The Female of the Species
by Red Lioness
Summary: Formerly 'Rapture of the Deep'. The continuing adventures of the TMNT plus some very um . . . 'interesting' original characters.
1. Rapture of the Deep

Michelangelo groaned, rubbing his head. He vaguely remembered being trapped in a cloud of teargas after trying to rescue some hostages in a high-rise building. Now he was lying on his back in a large, very dimly lit room, lying on a concrete floor. Mikey craned his neck up slightly, noting with some unease that his weapons and gear were all gone. He rolled over onto his plastron to climb to his feet when the floor suddenly sloped off sharply and Mikey tumbled into icy cold water.

All fogginess disappeared from his mind as the cold hit him like a physical blow, forcing the air from his lungs. Mikey scrambled back up onto the concrete, shivering uncontrollably. Eyes wide with shock, he noticed the window for the first time. Two human men stared impassively at him through a broad window across the water. The water . . . . A huge pool took up most of the room; Mikey could see it now as the ripples from his inadvertent dip reflected the dim light. Still shivering, Mikey glared up at the men in the window.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" He demanded. The two humans started, clearly surprised. One of them leaned forward and spoke into a microphone.

"You can talk?" The sound echoed through the concrete room.

"Yeah, and I can dance, too!" Michelangelo yelled. Though normally sweet tempered, the cold-water wake-up had made him lose his temper quickly. "What do you think I am, a sea turtle?!" This prompted a whispered conversation between the two humans.

"So . . . . you're not a sea turtle?" The other human asked hesitantly.

"Do I look like one?!" Mikey spluttered, confused by the sudden biologic turn the questioning had taken.

"So what kind of turtle are you?" The first human asked.

"A _Mutant_ turtle," Mike answered dryly, starting to regain his temper.

"Touché," The man said with a slight smirk. "So the water was a little cold, huh? The other one didn't seem to mind."

"Uh-huh," Mikey said, wondering who had gotten caught along with him. Raphael sure wouldn't have put up with the freezing water, and Donatello wouldn't have stayed quiet in the face of scientific questions. So maybe Leo was here too?

"Yeah, she's been here a week and she only comes up for air," the second man said casually.

"Apparently, she _is_ a sea turtle," the first said with a wry grin. Michelangelo stared at the both of them silently for a few minutes. Either they were screwing with him, or the heavens had just opened up and answered every prayer he ever sent skyward.

"Um . . . . 'she'?" he repeated.

"Oh yes; she's at the bottom of the tank," The second man said, fiddling with a few controls on the other side of the glass. The lights slowly brightened until Mikey could see the bottom of the tank. Thirty feet down, curled into tight ball on the floor of the aquarium, was a female Mutant turtle. She was a deep greenish-brown, with a white hands, feet, face, and plastron. White shot through her green coloring, picking out rounded off rectangles of color. Dark brown hair drifted around her head, obscuring her face. Her shell was much smaller than Mike's or any of his brothers'.

'_They said she was a sea turtle,'_ he reminded himself. _'They can't pull into their shells like a regular turtle.'_

"Pretty, isn't she?" The first human asked. "We caught her in the ocean around Hawaii. She hasn't been nearly as responsive as you have though." The man stood up to peer down at the tank through the window. "She's been under for about an hour now. We think she's asleep."

"An hour?!" Mikey gasped. Without another thought, he dove straight into the freezing water. His ears were ringing by the time he got close enough to grab the female by the wrist. Startled, she jerked in his grasp, staring up at him with huge brown eyes.

His lungs starting to complain, Mikey wrapped an arm around her and kicked up off the bottom of the pool. Moments later, he erupted in a shower of spray, the precious female cradled in his arms.

"It's okay, I've got you, sweetie! C'mon, we need to get out of the water; you're going to freeze to death. Let's get you onto some nice . . semi-dry . . . concrete," Mikey babbled. He tended to let his mouth run when he got excited and now was no exception. The female flopped loosely in his grasp, wrapping one arm around his shoulders. Unable to help himself, Mikey let a broad grin split his face. He began to stroke for the side of the pool, levering himself up onto the side before pulling the sea turtle girl up with him. Michelangelo knelt on the cold concrete, holding the girl up slightly so he could look into her face. Her face was white with dark green markings down her nose and on her cheeks. Her deep brown eyes were rimmed with black and there was a blush on her cheeks as she looked up into Michelangelo's eyes.

"Um . .I . . uh . . hi," he said weakly, starting to blush himself. "My name's Michelangelo." She didn't answer, just continued to stare up at him for a moment. Then she put her hands on his shoulders and leaned her head against his chest with a soft sigh. And then she vomited down the front of his plastron.

"Oh . . . . . ew," Mikey whispered, feeling lumps of fishy-smelling slime running down his chest and thighs.

"Sorry," the female turtle whispered weakly. "They keep giving me jellyfish to eat."

"Oh, don't worry about it, honey!" Mikey answered quickly. "It'll wash right off. What's a little half-digested jellyfish between friends?" The girl leaned against him and threw up again. "Okay, that was mostly stomach acid," he said weakly as she shivered in his grasp. Frowning as a thought struck him, Mikey laid his hand against the girl's forehead.

"Oh my god, honey, you're burning up! You're really sick!"

"I just want to go home . . ." She whispered, sliding down onto the concrete as she lost consciousness.

Eyes still as round as saucers, Michelangelo laid her gently down on the concrete.

"Don't worry. I'll get you home," he growled. Though normally the mildest of the four, real anger started to glow in Mikey's eyes. Standing, he turned towards the window where the two humans watched.

"So is she close enough to a _Mutant_ turtle for you?" the first asked sarcastically. The glass of the window was bulletproof, however, it was no match for 200 lbs. of angry ninja launched shell-first. Michelangelo smashed through the glass like a vengeful demon, landing on top of the first human male.

"Think you're funny, do ya?" He demanded, drawing back for a dragon punch. "Just be glad I'm the nice one!!"

On an upper story of the same building, Raphael peered around a corner briefly to watch a group of five guards stop to chat in a corridor. Safely back in the shadows, Raph tightened his grip on his sais. These creeps though they could turn Mikey into some sort of guinea pig, did they? Over Raph's dead body. All right; on the count of three, he'd rush these five and open up this corridor for their escape. Leo and Donnie were on a lower floor, finding out exactly where Mike was being kept and disabling the security systems. One . . . two . . . . The sound of a scuffle distracted Raphael from his countdown. The unmistakable sound of someone's nose being broken by a short length of wood made him peer around the corner again. Where five guards had been stopping for a chat, five prone bodies now lay on the ground. Only one was still moving and the way he was curled into the fetal position around his face suggested he was in his own private world of pain.

"O-kay . . ." Raph murmured under his breath, walking up to the group of battered humans. Whoever had happened to them, they had been quick, quiet, and devastating. "All right," Raph growled to himself. "Who's stealing my thunder?"

Back down in the observation room, the female turtle opened her eyes. She thought there had been someone in here with her; another turtle. Was it just a fever dream? A scream of pain cut off abruptly, causing her to look over. The observation window had been smashed in; the observing scientists lay strewn about the room like rag dolls. All right, so he wasn't just a fever dream. It sounded like he knew the way of lua as well. The reptilian girl forced herself to stand on shaking legs, slowly making her way over to the window and crawling through it. The room and the corridor outside of it looked like a tornado had torn through it. A few guards lay on the ground in various states of pummeled. The sea turtle girl looked around uncertainly, then started down the hallway. She had only gone a short distance when she had to sit down to rest. She leaned her head against the wall, shaking and sweating like she had just out-swum a mako.

"How the hell did you get out of your aquarium?" A loud voice demanded. The sea turtle girl blinked up at a guard, gasping in pain as he clamped down on her arm. She tried a throat strike on him, but in her weakened state, it ended up being more of a light slap. The guard flinched slightly, then yanked her to her feet.

"You call that a punch?!"

"No," said a voice behind him, "I call _this_ a punch." As the guard turned, Mikey's fist smashed into his face so hard the human was literally lifted off of his feet. The female collapsed as the guard dropped her, blinking up at Michelangelo with bleary eyes. He was breathing heavy and spatters of blood were sprinkled across his chest and face like the remnants of a defeated army. His knuckles were covered in blood, even though he didn't seem to be injured in any way. His eyes still flamed with the heat of battle.

"Did he hurt you, sweetheart?" The female just stared up at him; his image swimming in and out of focus. Without a word, she held out her arms like a child wanting to be picked up. The fire in Mikey's eyes died instantly. He knelt beside her and scooped her up, cradling her to his chest like the rare treasure she was.

"Don't worry, baby, I've got you," he crooned gently.

"Makai," the girl finally panted. Even the effort of speaking was almost too much for her. "My name is Makai."

On a lower floor, Leonardo watched a hallway while Donatello searched the computer systems for Mikey's whereabouts.

"Anything yet, Don?" Leo asked, the tension obvious in his voice.

"Well, I found the room they _were_ holding Mike in. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he was content to stay there. I think he's still on the third floor somewhere, but I haven't found him on surveillance yet." Donatello's eyes flickered over to another security station where another screen on the top floor dissolved into static. "At least Raphael's doing his job." Leonardo frowned and approached the second station. He tapped a few buttons and brought up the last usable image from the security camera. He squinted at the frozen frame, the object caught on it blurred by speed.

"Donnie? Does that look like a sai to you?" Donatello paused and squinted over Leo's shoulder.

"N-n-o-o-o-o . . . ." he said slowly, scowling at the screen. "I have no idea what that is."

"It looks like some kind of wooden knuckle duster," Leo murmured to himself. "With something white stuck along the outer edge."

"Sure it does," Donnie agreed. "But I know Raph didn't bring anything like that along. So, if he's not taking out the cameras . . ."

"Who is?" Leo finished.

Raphael paused over another fallen guard, an exasperated sigh heaving his shoulders. At first he had thought it was Mikey fighting his way outside, but whoever was clearing the halls was heading deeper into the building, not out of it. Sounds of a fight broke out ahead of him. Raph rushed forward, determined to catch whoever was hogging all of the fun. He had to dodge a guard thrown his way at the last minute, but he burst out into a larger room just in time to see a gold and white blur disappear behind several large salt-water tanks. Cautiously, he crept into the line of specimen tanks, trying to see through the waving strands of kelp inside. He heard a sound above him a millisecond before something heavy slammed down onto his shell. Before he could straighten up, he got another flash of gold and white out of the corner of his eye and a thin leather cord snapped shut around his neck, cutting off his air. Raphael gagged, trying to get the blade of his sai under the cord, but it was already too tight around his throat. Damn, whoever this was, they knew what they were doing. But after a moment, the garrote loosened slightly; the wielder obviously uncertain about the fact that he was a giant turtle. Big mistake. With both hands, Raphael reached up and grabbed a hold of the warrior on his back and threw them off. He ended up with a stick weapon about a foot and a half in length dangling from his neck by a leather strap. Growling, he untangled the strap, then broke the stick over his knee.

"Makai's going to be pissed; you just broke her favorite pahoa." A throaty female voice announced. Raphael turned to his attacker . . . . and nearly fell to his knees in shock.

He had just been jumped by a female mutant turtle. At least he thought she was a turtle; he had never seen a white turtle with golden-brown spots before, but she had a shell and three fingers on each hand. She also had red-blond hair with blond streaks in it, which struck Raphael as a little odd, but hey, she made it work. She was sitting back against a wall with one elbow propped up on her knee casually, as if she hadn't just been thrown there. She had the coolest ice-blue eyes Raph had ever seen.

"Holy shit . . ." He muttered.

"Hnn," she grunted, a smile tugging at her lips. "I wasn't expecting to see you either." She stood, giving Raphael a better look at her. She was very short, but nicely proportioned; it was if she were just built along extra-small lines rather than smashed down into a petite package. Despite the mammalian trait of having hair, her plastron was just as flat as Raph's. Not that it wasn't a nicely shaped front; there simply weren't any of the extras you'd expect on a human woman. Her hips were wide and nicely curved, adding to her femininity. There was a necklace of volcanic glass and sharks' teeth around her neck and she wore an anklet of huge wooden beads that could probably be used as a weapon. She had a red loincloth around her waist, but it seemed to be more for decoration than anything else. At the moment, a pair of crude wooden knuckledusters hung from it. They were roughly carved, the handles wrapped with white cotton. A large sharp spike jutted out one side of each and the outer rim was lined with shark's teeth. Unlike his own sai, there was no sleek elegance about these weapons. No one could claim they were simple pins for oxen collars; the only use these had were putting holes in people. Raphael eyed them with a mixture of admiration and anxiety. It was a good thing she hadn't decided to use those on him; he might not have survived the experience.

"Nice . . . ." he began. The girl's ice-blue eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Nice what?!" she snapped.

"Nice . . . uh . . . actually, I don't know what they're called," Raph admitted. At the look of pure confusion on the female's face, he pointed to the weapons at her hips. "Your weapons."

"Oh! They're called ku'eku'e lima lei-o-mano."

"Right, knuckledusters," Raphael said diplomatically. "Who are you? What are you doing here? And where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"The name's Pele," she said with a grin. "Like the goddess."

"Found him, Leo!" Donatello cried. "He's almost to the stairs at this end of the third floor. It looks like he's got somebody with him," he added, squinting at the screen.

"No time for that, Don! We've got company!" Leo cried, dragging his brother out into the hallway. The sound of running feet pounded loud from the next corridor. Donatello and Leonardo darted across to the other corridor, avoiding the guards and heading towards Mikey and his companion.

'Wow', Raph thought, staring at Pele. 'I can't believe this is really happening.' He should have been paying more attention to where the two of them were running than to her, but this only occurred to him a moment after he bounced off a doorframe. Pele stopped, glaring back at him as he picked himself up off of the floor.

"I sure hope your brother's more coordinated than you are," she announced flatly. Raph scowled.

"I'll have you know I'm the strongest warrior of the four of us!" He growled. Pele paused to give him a disdainful look before peering around a corner.

"In that case, don't worry. Makai and I will protect you guys."

"I sure hope your sister's a lot friendlier than you," Raph growled back. Pele ignored him and made her way into the stairwell. The petite chelonian leaned over the empty space between the stairs and stared down into the darkness. At the bottom of the shaft, there was a click of someone opening a door, a moment of hesitation, then another click as the person changed their mind and closed the door without opening it.

"That was one of your brothers!" Pele announced. "Let's go!"

"How the shell do you know?!" Raph demanded, starting after her. "Women's intuition?"

"More like echolocation jerk!" Pele snapped, already two floors down. "Now come on!"

"Turtles can't echo-locate!" Raphael protested, but had little choice but to follow her.

"Mikey!!" Michelangelo half-turned at the cry, not really surprised to see Donatello and Leonardo bearing down on him as he approached the door to the stairwell at the end of the hallway.

"Dudes! It's about time you got here!" He joked, turning towards them fully. Makai lay limp in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder. Leo and Don stopped so short they nearly tripped over each other. Their eyes were locked on the female in Mikey's arms. Mikey grinned to himself and hefted the girl.

"Guys, meet Makai," he said, then puffed up with pride. "I'm rescuing her." Before Leo or Don could reply, the door to the stairwell burst open and another female turtle, this one gold and white came barreling through, Raphael close on her heels. Raph looked startled to find his brothers.

"Geez, you were right!"

"Don't question a woman; we know everything. Now—MAKAI!!" Pele cried, going to her sister. She had to stretch up to reach the other female. Raphael took a step back and admired the view. Being a sea turtle, Pele's shell was relatively much smaller than his or his brother's. Which meant it left much more of her rear end bare.

"Uh--," Leo began, pointing to the smaller female with an astonished look on his face. Raph grinned.

"Guys, meet Pele. She's got spunk."

"Don't you dare patronize me," Pele growled without looking in Raph's direction. "Makai? Makai, what's wrong?!"

"She's really sick," Mikey answered, worry surfacing on his face. "They kept her in freezing water and only gave her jellyfish to eat."

"Jellyfish? Ewww," Leo echoed, making a face.

"Well, jellyfish is the primary food of normal sea turtles," Donny said rationally.

"But Makai is allergic to jellyfish!" Pele protested. "She's probably going into anaphylactic shock by now!"

"Annaphil–whatta?" Mikey repeated, looking blank.

"Anaphylaxis is a hypersensitivity to foreign proteins or drugs resulting from prior sensitization to that particular catalyst," Donatello explained. Leo, Raph, and Mikey continued to stare blankly. "Um, it's a severe allergic reaction."

"Oh," Leo and Raph said in the same voice.

"Why didn't you say that first?" Mikey asked.

"Wait a minute; how did you find my sister?" Pele asked, suspiciously, frowning up at Mikey.

"They put me in with her. I um . . . I think . . . they wanted me to . . . to . . . ah, y'know," He blushed hotly. Michelangelo's embarrassment didn't last long. Wooden weapons don't make the same sort of noise as metal ones when pulled from a sheath or holder. So Mike didn't have any warning before he found a half-circle of sharks' teeth pressed to his throat.

"You bastard!" Pele roared. "If you got my sister pregnant--!"

Metal weapons do make a slight sound as their drawn, but Pele was so focused on Michelangelo she didn't notice until a katana blade pressed lightly against one side of her neck and a sai on the other.

"Please don't kill Mikey. We're kind of attached to him," Leo said dryly. "Besides, I really don't think you have to worry about him taking advantage of your sister."

"I'm NOT that kind of guy!" Mikey protested, looking highly offended. "Maybe if it was Raph you could worry, but—."

"Hey!" Raphael protested.

"Still making friends, I see," a soft voice said, breaking through the increasingly raised voices. Makai was awake, peering down at her sister through slitted eyes.

"Makai! God, you had me worried sick!" Pele's relief at seeing her sister awake faded when she realized she still had her ku'eku'e at Michelangelo's throat and Raphael and Leonardo likewise still had their weapons poised. Clearing her throat, she put her weapon away. Leo and Raphael lowered theirs. Pele's blue eyes flicked over to Leonardo's katana for a moment, then she glanced up to meet his eyes. There was a moment of eye-to-eye contact between them, then Pele quickly looked back to Makai.

"Do you realize you're lying weak and helpless in the arms of some strange man?" the fair turtle asked coolly. Makai managed a weak grin.

"Jealous, much?"

Pele actually blushed.

"You're shameless, Makai. Geez, you probably would have let him--," Before she could continue on her rant, a canister spewing gas clattered down the hallway, causing all six turtles to duck and cover their mouths.

"Guys! We've got to get out of here!" Donnie cried, drawing his bo and knocking the canister back the way it had come. "Raph! Did you clear the top floor?!"

"Yeah; I took out all the guards," Raphael answered, whipping out his sai.

"Excuse me?!" Pele snapped, arching a brow ridge as she headed back towards the stairwell.

"Okay, so Pele handled a few, too," Raphael started after Pele, followed by his four brothers. Pele slammed both hands into the handle, then slammed face first into the door when it remained shut. Raphael crashed into the back of her, followed by the other three brothers. Michelangelo, at the back, managed to turn and take most of the impact on his shell, protecting Makai, who was still cradled in his arms.

"It's locked!" Pele squawked, sandwiched between a steel door and nearly eight hundred pounds of male turtle. "And that had better be a weapon poking me in the ass!"

"We've got guards on this end, guys!" Mikey cried as the other four turtles sorted themselves out. Through the wisps of smoke, guards sporting industrial breathers and tasers approached them warily.

"They must have gotten the security system back up," Donnie said.

"Guys and . . . girls . . . looks like we're stuck between a rock and hard place!" Leonardo cried dramatically, unsheathing his katana. Pele seemed to appear at his side, her ku'eku'e out and ready for action.

"When you're between the devil and the deep blue sea, it's time to swim!" The fair turtle charged at the guards.

"Explain this to me **again**, Johnson," the professor said sternly, looking down into the observation chamber.

"W-well, sir, it was a rather simple experiment in these creatures' social matrix. The original male refused to leave the sick female's side after they were re-captured. We were curious as to the whole gender relationship versus family bonds, so we picked out the two most aggressive males and placed them in isolation with the smaller female. We wanted to see if they'd fight over the right to mate with her or take turns or what," Johnson stammered.

"And the board game?"

"Um, a bit of an inside joke, sir. The boys in Genetics were joking about whether they'd spend the time mating or playing monopoly. So when we were furnishing the room, we gave them the board game."

"And?"

"And, um . . . . they're . . . they're playing monopoly."

"What are you doing?! Pele, you can't take any more money out of the bank; you're broke!" Leo cried, scowling at the small female. The scientists had taken away all of their weapons and gear, so Pele's hair was spilling down over shell and shoulders in a kinky mass of curls. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and leveled her diamond-blue eyes at Leonardo.

"I'm holding up the bank. This is a robbery." Raphael snorted, his shoulders starting to shake with suppressed laughter.

"You can't rob the bank! That's against the rules!" Leo squawked.

"Yeah, but people don't always play by the rules, Leo," Pele pointed out, counting her booty. Though she spoke without much of an accent, the fair-skinned sea turtle pronounced 'Leo' the Hawaiian way: LAY-o. Leo loved it, but it looked like the charm was starting to wear off.

"Damn it, Pele, you can't cheat! I won't let you!" He cried. Pele raised an eye ridge at his abrupt tone, then leaned over the board and flicked one of Leo's hotels clear across the room.

"Being a hardened criminal, I'm in with the mob, so I just torched your hotel for pissing off the family." Raphael burst out laughing.

"Damn it, Raph, it's not funny!" Leo growled, getting up to retrieve his hotel.

"Yes it is," Raphael chuckled. Pele busied herself with leaning across the board and flicking the rest of Leo's hotels across the room. The steel door to the observation room shot open and a tranquilizer dart zipped through, smacking firmly into Pele's upturned rump. The blond turtle let out a squeal of outrage. Before she could straighten up, Leo and Raph were through the door and making short work of the guards.

"Here we go; Makai, this will help you get your strength back in short order." Michelangelo carefully blew on the steaming contents of a hot spoon and offered it to the sea turtle. Makai eyed the lumpy contents covered in a milk-white slime with disbelief.

"What is it?"

"It's clam chowder. Come on, it's tasty."

"There aren't any jellyfish in it?"

"No jellyfish; just clams and potatoes and . . . uh . . . milk? I think . . ." Mikey studied of the contents of the soup bowl uncertainly. Makai cringed back down under the covers. Michelangelo had been extremely vocal about Makai's well being, demanding a soft bed with plenty of blankets, hot food and lots of rest for her. Now he fussed over her non-stop. Donnie had never seen him act like this.

"C'mon, sweetheart; you need to eat," Mikey coaxed. "This should be fine. I don't know why you're still getting sick."

"Her body has gotten used to automatically rejecting whatever she ate; it still hasn't shaken the habit." Don interjected, coming over and sitting on the other side of the bed. "I mean, there wasn't anything she couldn't eat in the chicken noodle soup, but she couldn't keep that down."

"Oh, that was just psychosomatic," Makai admitted. Mikey blinked.

"Psycho - - watta?"

"Psychosomatic," Donnie and Makai said at the same time. They looked at each other in surprise and laughed.

"The noodles kinda reminded me of jellyfish tentacles," the sea turtle girl said, making a face.

"Yeah, and her system's so weakened that's all it took," Donnie said, looking at Makai with pleased surprise. The three stopped and listened. The sounds of alarms and fighting could be heard faintly.

"Sounds like they're playing our song, bro," Mikey said with a grin.

"Sure does," Donatello agreed, looking up at the observation window. "Do you think a chair would work?"

"They might have reinforced the glass since I went through the last one," Michelangelo said, setting down the soup bowl. "We'd better use the table."

Four hours later, the group, bruised but triumphant, approached the Lair.

"This is going to be great," Raphael grinned. "Sensei's going to freak!" Leo hung back slightly to walk beside Pele.

"How are you doing?" He asked quietly. Pele, her hair loose and pressed across her mouth and nose like a mask, shot him a dark look.

"I think I'm getting used to the smell; I haven't thrown up for like an hour now," the fair turtle groaned. Behind them, Donatello never looked up from the research texts he had taken from the ruins of the lab.

"Did you know the girls' core body temperature is three degrees higher than ours?" He announced to no one in particular. "I wonder why that is . . ."

"Hang on, Makai, we're almost there," Michelangelo said, bringing up the rear with Makai still in his arms. Makai, who was also using her hair like a gas mask, let out a weak gurgle. Raphael burst through the door to the Lair.

"Oh Sensei! We're ho-ome!"

"My sons! Did you retrieve Michelangel . . . o?" Splinter stopped when he saw his sons and their two companions. "Leonardo? Who are these two . . . ladies?" Leo quickly left the group and bowed to Master Splinter before giving his report.

"Sensei, we went to rescue Mike and we found him already trying to free Makai. That's the one he's still holding. She was having a severe allergic reaction to what the scientists were feeding her and she's still very sick. Her sister, Pele, was trying to rescue her. We all got caught for a day or two, but we're all free now. We got all our gear back and Donatello got all the data the scientists had collected, right Donnie?"

"Huh?" Don said, tearing his eyes away from the file he had open. "Did you know our hearts are more like an alligator's than a turtle's?"

"Fascinating," Splinter said neutrally, his eyes still flicking back and forth between his sons and the newcomers. Pele tossed her hair back over her shoulder and approached the rat.

"Thank you for opening your home to us, kind sir," she said formally, giving a bow. "I'll do my best to repay your hospitality while my sister is sick."

"'Opening our home'?" Splinter echoed, looking nervous. "You're staying here?"

"Yes. Leo said we could stay while Makai recovers. We're from Hawaii, you see. Makai's in no condition to travel that far," Pele explained. Beside her, Leo started to blush.

"Lay-o?" Splinter repeated, arching an eyebrow.

"Leonardo," Pele clarified, pointing at Leo. Leo's cheeks grew a little redder. "That's all right, isn't it?" Splinter eyed Leonardo, who was intently studying the cracks in the floor. Then he looked to Michelangelo, who was cradling the stricken Makai.

"Yes, it is perfectly all right, ah, Pele, was it? Make yourself right at home. We will get your sister back on her feet in no time." The four boys grinned at each other. "Right after we decide on sleeping arrangements," Splinter added firmly. All six of the teenagers turned a little red this time.

"The girls can share my bed," Mikey offered.

"Both of them?!" Raph demanded, surprised his little brother would make such a bold offer in front of Splinter.

"In your dreams!" Pele snapped.

"Michelangelo!" Splinter cried. If any more blood rushed through Leo's face, his head would have exploded.

"Hey! I meant Makai and Pele can **have** my bed and share with each other," Mikey clarified, looking offended. "I'll bunk in with Raphael."

"No you won't," Raph growled.

"Um . . . I'll bunk in with Donnie," Mike corrected.

"Try again, Mr. Button-Pusher," Don said, never looking up from his data files.

"Um . . . Leo?"

"Yeah, that's cool," Leo sighed, carefully not looking at either of the girls.

"Well, since that's cool, I'll just go get Makai settled in," Mikey said, heading for his bedroom.

"I can show Pele around," Raph said, laying a hand on the smaller turtle's shoulder. Pele lifted his hand by one finger and flicked it off disdainfully.

"After Makai is taken care of, you will all meet me in the dojo," Splinter said sharply.

"Yes, Master Splinter," the four brothers chorused, some more reluctantly than others.

Michelangelo carried Makai up to his room, depositing her gently in his already messed up bed and wishing he had cleaned his room before he had gotten kidnapped.

"Um, sorry about the mess," he said, tucking Makai in. "I –uh- was going to clean it up. . ." Grabbing a stack of comic books off of the bedside table, he looked around for somewhere to put them, finally deciding on a chair. Makai chuckled at this, pulling the blankets up tighter around her.

"It's okay. It kind of looks like Pele's room." She said. "Can I have another blanket or something? It's so cold down here."

"Oh sure! Lessee, blanket, blanket . . . um, how about a sweatshirt?" Mikey dug out a well-worn orange sweatshirt with a big white 'M' on the front.

"Does the 'M' stand for 'Mikey'?" Makai asked with a grin. Michelangelo looked down at the logo.

"Um . . . actually, I think it stands for 'Michigan.'" Mikey didn't want her to think he was a total dunce. Of course Makai would have recognized the Michigan State University logo and was just teasing him. "But when you wear it it can stand for 'Makai.'"

"Awww, you're so sweet, Mikey," Makai said, sitting up as Michelangelo handed her the shirt. Instead of just taking the garment, the sea turtle let it fall into her lap, catching Mike by one wrist and putting her other hand on the back of his neck. "Thank you for rescuing me," she murmured, pulling him down to kiss him gently on the mouth. Mikey's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He sat down on the edge of the bed, Makai's arms still locked around his neck and her lips pressed firmly against his. After a moment of total shock, he put his arms around her and kissed her back. It was a bumbling kiss; his first, after all. Makai didn't seem to mind; this was likely her first kiss as well. After what seemed like an eternity but at the same time wasn't nearly long enough, Makai pulled away slightly. She stared up at Mikey, her eyes dark with an unreadable emotion. She looked almost . . . apprehensive; as if she expected him to be angry or reject her or something else unthinkable.

"Makai . . .," he breathed, brushing his thumb along her full lower lip. At a loss for what else to say, Mike kissed her again. Makai returned his kiss eagerly.

"Good Lord, it didn't take you long, did it?" A sarcastic voice asked. Mikey and Makai jumped, looking around guiltily. Pele stood in the doorway, arms crossed. Leonardo and Raphael stood behind her, eyeing the pair with more than a little jealousy. "Did you even let him put you down before you attacked him?" Makai blushed, leaning against Michelangelo's chest.

"It was just a kiss, Pele," she whispered. Pele snorted rudely.

"I was coming to ask if you wanted to take a bath before you settled in, but I think I'll take a shower ahead of you; I don't want Mikey germs in the tub."

"Oh now you're just being childish," Makai returned. "It was just a kiss."

"Sensei wants to see us, Mikey," Leo said. "Now."

"Okay, Okay," Michelangelo said, rising. "I'll be back to check on you later, sweetie." He headed out into the Lair with his two brothers.

"Tramp," Pele declared as Mikey passed her, not bothering to wait until the boys were out of earshot. "You didn't give him any tongue, did you?"

"None of your damn business!" Makai squealed, hurling a pillow at her sister. The three brothers headed towards the dojo in silence.

"So . . . Raph started, an evil grin starting to cross his face. "Did she give you any tongue?"

"Raphael!" Leo cried, his face burning. Mikey cleared his throat and looked away, a blush starting on his own cheeks. Raph guffawed.

"Mikey, you dawg!" He cried, slugging his little brother on the shoulder hard enough to make Mike stagger.

"My sons! To me!" Splinter said sharply, causing the three to run into the dojo where Donatello already sat waiting. The four brothers peered up at their sensei, waiting for his words. Splinter stared back at them, feeling a little apprehensive. He had always meant to have this talk with his sons, eventually. Of course, with no females of their own kind, there was no real urgency to it and Splinter had continued to put it off indefinitely. Now that he had the situation thrust upon him, he didn't really know what to say. He hadn't been this flustered since he'd had to explain the effects of puberty.

"Ah . . ." he began. "Um . . . I – I think we need to have a long talk." This would be a lot easier if he didn't have to look at them. Splinter began to pace back and forth in front of the four turtles. "We- we need to talk . . . about. . . . .sex." There was a pregnant silence. The four brothers gave Splinter a stare usually associated with wild bovines and vehicle headlights. The old rat turned away to continue his pacing. Leo, Mike, Raph and Don exchanged panicked looks.

"Now, I realize I have left this a bit late . . . . you are already young men. I thought I would not need to . . . discuss . . . . . this—."

"Um . . . sensei?" Raphael said quietly, trying not to be his usual blunt self. "Didn't we already have this talk? Like, when we went through puberty?"

"Yeah," Mikey piped up. "We already did the whole 'the birds and the bees' thing."

"Yes, I know," Splinter replied. "But, well, there were . . . aspects that I didn't discuss and I'd like to remedy that now."

"Is this about safe sex?" Donatello wanted to know. "We know that part, too."

"Ah . . . well . . . no. But it's good that you know about that . . . part. Where did you--?"

"TV." The four turtles chorused as one.

"Ah. I see. Well-," Splinter continued, feeling his control of the discussion starting to slip.

"You're not going to tell how to . . . . you know . . . are you, Sensei?" Mikey suddenly asked, eyes wide. "'Cause honestly, coming from you it would just be creepy." Splinter tried to envision what on Earth Michelangelo was referring to and came up with a blank.

"How to what?" he asked, against his better judgment. Mikey looked away for a minute, fidgeted nervously and blushed.

"You know," he muttered, gesturing vaguely. At Splinter's blank stare, he flushed even harder and stared at the ground. "How to make a woman . . . . . . happy." It still took a minute to sink in. Splinter felt a blush go to the tips of his ears. He was in way over his head here.

"I – no."

"Dummy!" Raphael roared, smacking Mikey upside the head. "What makes you think Sensei knows how to do that?!"

"I beg your pardon!" Splinter snapped, feeling insulted. Leonardo, who had been carefully studying the cracks in the floor where he sat, suddenly slapped a hand over his face in sheer, utterly embarrassed horror. Donatello started to laugh. Splinter slammed his walking stick down sharply, the sound ringing through the dojo like a gunshot.

"As I was saying!" he snapped. "I realize you all know the physical aspects of sex, but I want to speak to you about the emotional aspects." Splinter paused to straighten his kimono before continuing. "Now, these two girls are of your kind, which means that, romantically involved or not, they are bound to you by your species kinship. If something goes wrong between you and one of them, you cannot simply stop seeing them. These girls will be around for the rest of your lives and turtles live a very, very long time. There is no moving on to greener pastures if you make a large mistake. Becoming intimate with someone is a very large step. It will affect you in ways you cannot foresee. Before you move towards that step, you need to look inside yourself and make sure you are emotionally ready for it. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sensei." The chorus was much quieter this time.

"Good. Now, having said that, I wish you the best of luck in matters of love and if I become a grandfather before you turn eighteen, the child will grow up fatherless because I'll have killed you. That is all." There was a feminine giggle from the doorway.

"Well said," Pele critiqued. "Now where are the clean towels?"

Later that evening, Splinter made the rounds to check on his sons. Raphael was safely ensconced in his room, chucking his sais at a dartboard while he listened to some sort of heavy thrash metal. The look on his face suggested he had some heavy thinking to do. Donatello was already snoring at his desk; the medical data stolen from the lab spread out underneath him like a pillow. Michelangelo and Leonardo were arguing about the best placement for Mikey's cot and Mikey's comics and whatever else Mikey had dragged along with him. The girls were both shut into Michelangelo's room. Splinter inclined his head towards the door.

"I still can't believe you kissed him already," Pele's voice came through loud and clear.

"Would you get over the damn kiss already?!" Makai sighed, clearly exasperated. "It was just a kiss! Besides, don't you want to know what it was like?"

"Nope." Pele said firmly.

"You're not the least bit curious?"

"Not in the slightest." Pele growled. "Tramp." Splinter rolled his eyes in amusement and raised his hand to knock.

"At least I didn't lie to Master Splinter," Makai protested. Splinter paused. There was a moment of silence on the other side of the door.

"What are you talking about?" Pele asked.

"You know. When you said we were just staying here until I could travel again?" There was another pause.

"Yee-ah," Pele said slowly, clearly still perplexed. "How exactly was that a lie?"

"You said we were going back to Hawaii when I got my strength back."

"Uh-huh?"

"Pele, you know we can't go back there," Makai's voice was suddenly deadly serious. "Not after what happened."

"We're going home." Pele stated. Her tone was firm, but there was a tremor in her voice that suggested that anything but going home was unthinkable.

"We can't go back to--,"

"Then we'll find somewhere else!" Pele snapped. "Malaekahana or Kaho'olawe or Puu Waawaa--,"

"Pele, Hawaii's not safe. Not now. Give it a few years to calm down, then maybe--." Makai's voice was soft and steady, obviously trying to comfort her sister.

"I'll call Mama Kai in the morning." Pele said sharply. "And we'll see about arranging a new place to live. Good night." There was the sound of a pillow being abused as it was forcibly fluffed and stuck under someone's head.

"'Night," Makai sighed, settling down. Splinter remained as still as stone outside the door. What had happened in Hawaii? Why wasn't it safe? He had been more than eager to get the girls out of the same house as his sons, but not if it meant shoving them into danger. What was the whole story?


	2. Still Waters

**Still Waters**

Raphael was in heaven. He was riding his motorcycle up Highway 87 just outside of New York City. The night was clear, there was a full moon in the sky and, best of all, Pele was sitting behind him with both arms wrapped around him tightly. With a little grin, he gunned the engine; weaving out around two semi trailers to swerve in front of a small, silver SUV. Pele squealed delightfully and hugged him even tighter. Raph's grin widened. He looked into one of his side mirrors, which was adjusted so he could see Pele leaning over his shoulder. She had borrowed Leo's helmet and leathers; Raph wished he could see her face through the full-face mask. As it was, he just caught a glimpse of her blue eyes sparkling through the tinted glass. He zoomed past a rest stop sign, catching a quick peek at what restaurants were featured.  
"Hey!" He yelled over his shoulder. "You want some ice cream?"  
"Uh, sure!" Pele yelled back, a little puzzled. Where would he be getting ice cream from? Up the road a few miles, Raphael pulled into the rest stop. There was a Baskin Robbin's sign on display. Raph cut the engine in a far corner of the parking lot, underneath a broken light.  
"Well, come on; my treat," he said, swinging one leg over the bike.  
"Wait!" Pele cried, suddenly tense. "We can't go in there! People will see us!"  
"No problem, just leave your helmet on and put your hands in your pockets. Everything else is covered. Trust me, no one will notice." Raphael said, heading for the rest stop building. After a few moments, he head Pele running up behind him.  
"I don't like this," she growled sharply. "It's too risky."  
"Now you're starting to sound like Leo," Raph growled back, getting irritated.  
"What's wrong with that? At least he wouldn't do something this stupid." Pele snapped, still right behind him. Raphael stopped dead in his tracks. Pele actually bumped into his shell.  
"I was **trying** to be nice and get you out of the Lair for a while. You looked like you were going stir crazy," Raph snarled. "And now I'm **trying** to be nice again and get you some ice cream and this is the thanks I get?!" He turned around to face her. "This ain't Hawaii, Pele. I know what I'm doing." Pele was silent, the full-face helmet she wore giving no clue to her current state of mind. "Come on, Pele, don't you trust me?"  
"All right," she sighed. "But I want to go back to the Lair after this."  
"Cool, we can do that." Raphael took her arm and led her inside. They spoke to each other in short, monotone sentences after that. Pele ordered green tea ice cream and Raph wanted to punch something. Green tea was Leo's favorite ice cream. This was the first time Raphael had managed to be alone with Pele since he had met her and she was already comparing him to Leo. She probably wished it were Leo with her right now.

They went back out to the bike and ate their ice cream under the broken parking lot light. Then they got back on the bike and headed back into the city. No more tight hugs or laughter or excited squeals from Pele as Raphael weaved through traffic. Damn it! She had only egged on his aggressive driving on the way up, but the thought of walking into an ice cream store had terrified her. Why was Pele so scared of humans?

Leo threw down his book as he heard the roar of Raphael's bike in the garage. Storming towards the noise, he stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Pele stomping away, dressed in his biking leathers. She was lost in the large leather jacket and pants, like a little kid playing dress-up. Quite against his will, seldom-used words like 'cute', 'adorable', and 'lovely' sprang to mind. Despite his anger at Raphael over the situation, he couldn't help throwing Pele a hopeful smile.  
"Quit grinning at me," she muttered, continuing on to Mikey's room.  
"'Kay," Leo sighed, watching her go. Then he continued his stomping towards the garage.  
"You guys were gone for two hours!! You didn't tell anybody where you were going!! I know you take off like that all the time, but why did you have to take Pele with you?!" Leo yelled. Raphael, who had put up his bike and was stripping off his leather jacket, glared at Leonardo.  
"We went for a drive and got ice cream. That's all; nothing happened. You can get off of my back now."  
"And what if something had happened?! What if Pele got hurt? Mama Kai's going to be here first thing tomorrow morning. I, for one, really don't want to explain to the woman who raised Pele and Makai that we let one of them get hurt because of some dumb stunt!" Leo cried, crossing arms firmly over his chest.  
"Would you just DROP IT?!" Raph roared, lunging for his brother.

"Pele? You okay?" Don asked, looking over his shoulder from his computer. Pele sighed and set Leo's helmet down on the sofa.  
"Yeah, I'm okay," she muttered, yanking her hair out of its ravaged bun. Pele always wore her hair up, but stuffing it under a helmet had ruined the up do. Donnie watched her shake out her red-gold curls silently, but his fingers flew over the keyboard. One of the Lair's security cameras turned to focus on Pele.  
"You were gone with Raph for a long time. He didn't try anything, did he?" Donnie asked.  
"No, he behaved himself," Pele said with a slight smile, slowly peeling off Leonardo's leather jacket. Donnie made the camera zoom in on her. Pele walked around just as naked as all of them, but there was just something about a woman taking her clothes off.  
"I just got a little spooked. Not used to so many people about, you know?" She continued, folding up the jacket and pulling her feet out of April's old boots.  
"Yeah, I can see where that would be a little scary," Don said, trying to stare and make sure the camera angle was right at the same time.  
"I mean, you never know what humans are going to do, between the fear and the greed and the drugs," Pele said, undoing the snaps at the waistband and slowly sliding the garment down her pale, shapely legs.  
"Yeah, you've gotta have the drugs," Donatello murmured under his breath.  
"What?" Pele asked, straightening up and shaking the pants out with a snap.  
"Uh," Donnie blinked as he realized he didn't have the faintest idea what he'd just said.  
"Pele!! Are you back yet?!" Makai yelled from the kitchen.  
"Yes!!" Pele bellowed.  
"Come in here and help me plan the meals for tomorrow, then! Casey's getting shark steaks for us and April's going to get the rest of the food, so all we have to do is cook."  
"Cool," Pele said, leaving Leo's things where she had taken them off. She headed into the kitchen, leaving Donatello to heave a sigh of relief and start editing his candid camerawork.

Mikey looked over the planned recipes for Mama Kai's visit like an explorer studying maps of lost lands.  
"So what's laulau?" He asked. Makai looked up from rummaging through the cabinets. In the two weeks since they had arrived back at the Lair, she had grown stronger and stronger, just like the bond between the two of them.  
"Laulau's chicken, butter fish, pork, and spinach boiled in laulau leaves. But I told April that banana leaves would work, too. Do you guys realize the only seasoning you have is salt and pepper?"  
"Yeah, we're pretty hopeless. What's lilikoi?"  
"It's a cake. I can't decide whether to make it a sheet cake or a layered cake. I prefer the layered, but," Makai paused, moving towards Mikey with an impish smile on her face. "Layered cakes are usually only for weddings." Returning her grin, Mikey pulled her a little closer.  
"Weddings, huh? Are we going to have something to tell Mama Kai?" He laced his fingers through hers, marveling at how easily they fit together.  
"No!" Makai giggled, blushing. "I'm far too young for that." Mikey didn't answer. He was too busy pulling her forward until she was close enough to be kissed. Mikey let go of her hands to wrap his arms around her, delighting in how small and smooth her shell was. Food and visits forgotten for the moment, the two young turtles embraced, lips brushing together softly before meeting again for a deeper kiss. Pele walked through the door and groaned.  
"I'm not helping if I have to watch you two neck," she declared. Makai leveled a dirty look at her sister.  
"Well, seems like you're still your usual ice princess self," she declared, leaning against Mikey. "I was hoping that after your date you'd have a better attitude." Pele blushed bright red, her color showing up easily against her white skin.  
"It wasn't a date!" she snapped. "We just went out!"  
"Oh yeah? What'd you do?" Mikey asked with a teasing grin.  
"Nothing happened!" Pele insisted, glaring at the two.  
"Did you kiss him?" Makai asked.  
"No!! In fact, I'm mad at Raphael right now!"  
"There's a shock," Makai muttered.  
"Oh, he tried for second base without going to first, right?" Mikey teased, watching Pele grow redder by the second.  
"NO!!"  
"Then what did you guys do?" Makai asked.  
"We got ice cream," Pele admitted.  
"AAAAAWWWWwwwwwwwwwwwwwww," Mikey and Maki cooed in the same voice.  
"Shut up! I hate you guys!" Pele cried, retreating back into the living room.

"Hi guys! I got all the stuff you asked for," April said, her arms loaded with bags of groceries. She was dribbling a large cardboard box soccer-style in front of her. Pele took one of the bags, peering inside with interest.  
"Ooo, did you get the poi?" She asked.  
"The poi, the laulau leaves, the lilkoi, the pineapple, and the stuff Makai asked for." April said, tapping the box with her foot. Donatello appeared and took two more of the grocery bags out of her arms. "I even found the CDs by that guy, um," April dug around in one of the bags and pulled out a CD. "Israel Kamaka—Kamaka--we--."  
"Kamakawiwo'ole! All right, you got Iz!!" Pele cried, a broad smile gracing her face.  
"She got Iz?! Which album?!" Makai asked, coming out of the kitchen. Mikey followed more slowly.  
"'Facing Future'," Pele said, handing the CD to her sister.  
"Cool; I love this one!" Makai said, grinning. Pele ducked behind Makai and Mikey, rooting through the bag she held until she came up with a white plastic container. She popped the lid off, hoping to sneak a taste, but Makai's head whipped around.  
"Damn it, Pele! The poi's for tomorrow!"  
"It's mine now!" Pele cried, darting away with the poi. Makai slapped the CD into Mikey's hand and took off after her sister.  
"If I have to beat it out of you, I will!" Makai promised. Mikey looked at the CD, then took it over and popped it into the stereo. A smooth, melodious male voice began to sing 'Country Road'. Some of the words had been changed to fit Hawaii.  
"Makai, remember when Mama Kai used to sing us this song?!" Pele cried, holding the poi out of her sister's reach.  
"I sure do, but I'm still taking your poi away!" Makai said.  
"Oh come on! 'Country Roads, take me ho-ome, to the place I belong--," Pele started to sing, her hips moving into a hula.  
"'West Makai, mokolai . . . . oh take me home, old country road.'" Makai joined in the song and her sister's dance smoothly. Though they both danced together, Makai's hands darted around her sister to try to grab the poi.  
"I heard a voice in the morning comes and calls me,  
As though to remind me of my home far away.  
Driving down the road, I feel spirits coming to me  
From yesterday, yesterdaaa----aaayy!"

Leo and Raph came out of the garage, staring at the scene playing out in front of them. Pele and Makai were both singing and laughing, trying to fight over a plastic food container and dance at the same time.  
"You know, that's the first time I've seen Pele smile," Leo admitted. He watched the two girls play fighting with each other for a few moments. Makai, having given up on just snatching the container out of Pele's hands, changed tactics. She started tickling the smaller turtle.  
"Bad Pele! That poi's not yours!" she growled fiercely. Pele shrieked with laughter, trying to push her sister away. Leo darted forward and grabbed the poi out of Pele's hands.  
"Sorry, Pele, but it's for everybody," he said, turning to hand the container to April. Caught up in the good feelings brought on by Iz's music, poi, and playing with her sister, Pele forgot she hated the world for a minute.  
"No, Leo, it's mine!" She yelled, jumping onto his shell and wrapping her legs around his waist. "My poi! Gimme!" Leo yelped in surprise, shocked by Pele's sudden playfulness. Pele was a bit surprised herself. The shell-tackle usually took down Makai within seconds, but Leo was wearing her like an extra scabbard. After a moment of flustered confusion, he reached around and started tickling her with one hand.  
"Ah! Ah! Ah! Who's poi is it?!" He teased, grinning evilly.  
"Aiie! No fair!! It's muh-mine! My poi!" Pele panted desperately. She began to thrash around, slowly starting to pull Leo over backwards. Leo stretched out the hand holding the poi, desperately trying to keep it level. He gave up the fight and toppled over backwards just as Raphael reached forward and grabbed it out of his hand. Leo and Pele sprawled across the floor, wrestling and laughing. Raphael stared down at them, a less than pleased look on his face. He obviously wasn't happy about the fact that Pele was play-fighting with Leonardo, but there didn't seem to be much he could do about it. At a loss for what else to do, Raph scooped up a big glob of poi on one finger and stuck it in his mouth. Two seconds later he did a full-on spit-take, spraying Leo and Pele with poi shrapnel.  
"Aw man, it's gone bad!" He cried.  
"It's supposed to taste like that!" Pele and Makai both yelled.  
"It's supposed to taste like wallpaper paste?" Raphael asked, making a face. "Yuck!" Pele scowled and sprang to her feet, taking her own taste-test.  
"That," she declared, "Is some good poi! It doesn't even need to be dipped in salt water!"  
"Salt water!! Disgusting!" Raphael declared, tossing the container towards Pele, causing it to flip up. Pele gasped, stepping backwards to catch her favorite food. Unfortunately, she tripped over Leo's legs and sat down hard, just managing to catch the poi container and hold it under the white, mushy mass as it slopped down. Pele shook poi bits off of her face and scowled up at Raphael.  
"You – you – nui, na'au kuhili, 'aku 'aku, ue, hukihuki honu!!!"  
"Wow, if I knew what any of that meant, I'd be burned," Raph snorted, heading off to his room. Pele growled to herself.  
"What did you call him?" Leo asked. Pele looked over at him and stopped short. For the first time she realized she was sitting in Leonardo's lap. He was leaning back on one hand, but the other was resting on Pele's hip. For the second time today, Pele felt her face turn crimson. Leonardo noticed immediately, letting go of Pele's hip so she could stand up. She started to do so, and then sat back down hard as Makai set both elbows on her sister's shoulders and leaned all her weight on them.  
"Let's see . . . . a big, thoughtless, reckless, whining jerk of a turtle," Makai translated, pinning her sister down casually. "I can see the thoughtless jerk part, but why reckless? Anything happen while you guys were out today?"  
"Nothing! He's a bad driver, that's all! Let me up!"  
"Pele, I've seen you drive," Makai stated flatly.  
"What do you mean?! I'm not a bad driver!" Pele protested, still trying to stand.  
"Oh yeah, right. It's just good Uncle Tanaka didn't want that pineapple tree. Just like Mama Kai wanted a new truck," Makai said, keeping all her weight on her sister's shoulders.  
"It was raining! That could have happened to anybody!"  
"Oh sure, a likely – No, Mikey, stay out of there!" Makai pushed off of Pele's shoulders so hard she threw her sister facedown on the floor and practically pounced on the cardboard box April had brought. "You can't see until tomorrow!"  
"Can't see what?" Mikey asked petulantly. Makai hefted the box easily and held it away from Michelangelo.  
"It's a surprise, sweetie! You'll see tomorrow!"  
"You're such a friggin' stereotype," Pele announced peering into the box.  
"You shut up! I'm going up to Mikey's room to get – uh- **these** ready. You go get everything ready in the kitchen. C'mon, we don't have much time to have everything ready tonight."  
"All right, all right. Who wants to help me cook?" Pele asked.  
"You can cook?" Mikey asked doubtfully.

Somewhere over the Pacific, Kai Pa'iniu stifled a yawn. She hated flying. It figured the girls would have to end up halfway around the damn globe. Still, at least they were safe. After the nasty business with the Navy, she was convinced she'd never see her young charges again. It had been nearly three months since they'd been taken when Pele's phone call out of the blue had jerked Kai straight out of mourning. Her normally reserved daughter had fought to keep from breaking down on the phone, but Kai knew Pele. She was clearly trying to stay strong for Makai, who was yelling for her mother's attention in the background. The two girls had passed the phone back and forth several times, all the while fighting and bickering with each other like they always did. Kai had never been so happy to hear them insulting each other in all her life. She had laughed and cried at the same time, dancing around the house in joy. Michio had thought she'd finally lost her mind in grief. He had to take the phone himself and hear the girls' twin squeals of 'Uncle Tanaka!' before he'd believe her. Kai smiled affectionately at the Japanese man snoring in the seat next to her. Michio Tanaka had been the girls' father figure growing up and there were times when he was more like a husband to her than a close friend. Kai wondered if the girls knew the full extent of their relationship. Makai probably did; she was always the intuitive one. She never said anything, but sometimes her big brown eyes danced with knowing laughter when she looked at the two of them. Pele just as likely didn't know. The 'older sister' of the pair could be amazingly oblivious to what went on between a man and a woman.

That fact made the details of where Makai and Pele were staying all the more interesting. Pele had explained their location and Makai's condition but could get out little more before her little sister had snatched the phone away and started yelling excitedly about boy turtles and a home in the sewers and a sweetheart named Michelangelo and there was something about a giant rat in there, too, but Kai couldn't hear because Pele and Makai were fighting over the phone again. And then a strange male voice had blurted 'Hi, Mama Kai!' and Makai came back on, saying that was her _ipo_, Mikey. Between the yelling and the fights over the receiver, Kai had managed to understand that they had found four male turtles and were now staying in their home in the sewers of New York City. Makai had apparently latched onto a boyfriend already, but Kai had laughed out loud at the thought of Pele surrounded by four young men in the mood for love. What she wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall in that house. The Hawaiian woman stroked the large photo album in her lap affectionately. It was probably a risk to bring it, but she couldn't resist. Kai opened the album, revealing numerous shots of beaches, tropical sunsets and luaus; nothing out of the ordinary. After looking around to make sure her fellow travelers were asleep or engrossed in something else, Kai peeled up the plastic cover on one page and lifted up one of the pictures. To anyone watching, it would look like she was reading the back of the photo, but Kai had revealed a completely different picture hidden under the first.

Oh, this was her favorite one of Pele. It was a black and white photo of Pele, all of thirteen years old, sitting on a beach looking lost in thought. Dark clouds that threatened rain were rolling in from the ocean, but Pele's blue eyes were lost in a thousand-yard stare. The one just below it was her favorite photo of Makai. Here, she was eight years old, her brown hair up in pigtails. Fake flowers adorned her ponytail holders and she still wore the lei Kai had brought her from somewhere or other. Makai was jumping down off of the low shed behind the house, her pigtails fluttering up behind her. Her big brown eyes laughed at the camera. This was how Kai always envisioned her younger daughter. Makai was always happy and laughing, always optimistic, always ready to believe everything would be okay. She had the innocence of a child, even as her body had grown into a woman's.

Pele was the exact opposite. Even as a very young child, Pele always possessed a seriousness, a knowledge of how things really worked that was so adult it was almost frightening. Michio used to say she was eight going on forty-nine. The only time she ever acted like a kid was when she was trying some stunt guaranteed to get her killed. Like when she jumped the access road on her bike . . . . Kai was sure she had cracked her shell open on that one. Or the time she had tried to ride a shark. Or the superglue incident. Ye gods. Kai could look back at these things and laugh, but there was always a deep worry about Pele. Something was wrong with a girl who was never happier than when she was closest to death.

A movement in the aisle of the plane caught Kai's eye. She barely managed to stifle a gasp.  
"Michio!!" She hissed as the man passed, disappearing into the dimly lit plane.  
"Uh, what?! Are we in LA?" Michio asked, jumping slightly.  
"No, I saw him!"  
"Who?"  
"Bane!"

"I know what I saw, Michio," Kai growled, stepping off of the plane in New York.  
"Yes, dear," Michio said obediently.  
"Don't you dare patronize me, Michio," Kai snarled.  
"It could have been a coincidence, Kai. After all, there's no law against going to the mainland. You didn't see him on the flight from LA to New York, did you?" Michio said reasonably. Kai turned to answer her companion when something caught her eye. A big, swarthy man was standing at the gate with a handmade sign that said 'Mama Kai'. Someone had drawn a little sea turtle next to the words. Kai grinned.  
"I think we found our ride, Michio, dear," she said pointing.

"Hey guys, I found somebody at the airport you might want to meet!" Casey yelled, entering the Lair. There was the thunder of running feet and Makai and Pele pounded up to the two human newcomers.  
"Mama Kai!!! Uncle Tanaka!!" The girls squealed, hugging first one, then the other. There was the emotional reunion of close family believed to be lost, so it was a few minutes before Mama Kai and Uncle Tanaka took notice of the other people in the room with them.  
"And are these your new . . . . friends?" Uncle Tanaka asked, eyeing the four brothers.  
"Oh yes!!" Makai exclaimed, grabbing Mikey's hand and dragging him forward. "Mama Kai, Uncle Tanaka, this is Michelangelo, my _ipo_." She gave him a tight hug.  
"And, these are his brothers, Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello. And their sensei, Master Splinter," Pele continued. The remaining four bowed politely as they were introduced.  
"So which one is your _ipo_, Pele?" Mama Kai asked with a grin. A blush colored Pele's cheeks.  
"I don't have an _ipo_," she growled.  
"Good for you, sweetie. Take your time; don't rush into anything," Uncle Tanaka advised, patting her shoulder. He turned to Master Splinter and bowed once again.  
"Thank you so much for taking care of our girls. I know they can be a handful and I don't envy you position with four sons in the house!" Splinter bowed his head in acknowledgement.  
"I have gained more gray hairs in the last two weeks than I have in the last two years," he admitted. "But I could do no less. It has been interesting seeing Pele's mixture of hapkido and lua." Tanaka grinned proudly.  
"That's my Pele!" he declared.

Mikey stepped up to Mama Kai with his hand extended.  
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am –OOOF!" His breath went out in a rush as the human woman practically tackled him, squeezing him in a bear hug.  
"Don't even think of calling me anything but Mama Kai, _milia_!" She cried.  
"Oh, geez, okay . . ." Mikey groaned. Leo approached them.  
"I just want to assure you, Ma'am, that we've been taking real good care of Pele and Makaiii!"  
"No 'Ma'am's! Call me Mama Kai, you sweethearts!" She ordered, releasing Mikey to tackle Leo instead. Leonardo's eyes widened as she hugged him tight. Raphael grinned.  
"Aw, whatsa matter, Leo? Bear hug from a woman too much for you? Poor bab—Oh my God!" Raph squawked as he was subjected to Mama Kai's 'hello hug'. Leo rubbed his shoulder gingerly.  
"She's stronger than she looks," Mikey groaned. Leo nodded his agreement. Donatello was in a full-on cringe when Mama Kai came for him, but none of this seemed to matter to her.  
"Such nice, strong young men! I bet the girls were all weak in the knees when they first saw you! So tell me," Mama Kai hooked an arm over Donnie and Raph's shoulders and leaned forward conspiritally. "I know Mika'ele'anelo is with little Makai, but who's Pele sweet on? Come on, one of you has to have turned her head!" There was a moment of stunned silence. Mikey was simply stunned by the Hawaiian butchering of his name; the others were stunned by the sheer obnoxiousness of the question.  
"Uh--," Raphael began. Makai bursting into the room, her arms heavy with leis, quickly cut him off.  
"Aloha!!!" She cried, putting leis on Master Splinter and Uncle Tanaka first, then moving on to April, Casey, and Pele before heading towards Mama Kai and the boys.  
"You're such a stereotype!" Pele sighed, fingering the blue flowers around her neck.  
"Go boil your head," Makai suggested cheerfully, hanging leis around each of the boy's necks. She gave each of the guys a kiss on the cheek, except for Mikey, who got a real kiss. Mama Kai grinned at the pair.  
"See how sweet they are! Now come on, boys," Kai grabbed a hold of Pele's arm and forcibly hauled the smaller turtle into the group. "I know she's short and a little skinny, but she's a natural blonde with blue eyes!" Before anyone could protest, Mama Kai slapped Pele's rump with her free hand. "And check out these wide, egg bearing hips!"

Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael stared, mouths agape in sheer horror. Uncle Tanaka groaned, rubbing his face with his hand.  
"Here we go . . ." he muttered under his breath. Pele's were wide with shock, for a moment unable to comprehend the full extent of the indignity committed against her person. Then her face grew crimson, either with shame or anger or both.  
"Mama Kai!!" she snarled, whirling around. Mama Kai easily dodged the sidekick that should have knocked her block off. In fact, she caught Pele's leg in both hands, and then swept the girl's remaining leg out from under her with an ankle hook. Pele crashed gracelessly to the ground.  
"You **still** don't recoil the kicking leg fast enough!" Kai snapped, all playfulness gone. Pele glared up at her mother, murder in her eyes. She spun around on her shell, flipping easily back to her feet. Makai appeared between the two so quickly it was if she materialized there.  
"No, no! It's time for a celebration!! Pele, Mama Kai, no fighting!!" Makai declared firmly. Pele relaxed slightly, still eyeing her mother with lethal intent. "Come on; who wants poi?!" She sang.  
"Oooh, proper poi? With salt water?" Kai asked, fighting with Pele instantly forgotten.  
"That's right! Pele made laulau, too!"  
"Well, I can't pass up Pele's laulau. Let's eat!" Kai declared, heading for the kitchen. Pele stopped and exchanged an uncomfortable look with the boys. Everyone blushed and looked at their feet.  
"Let's just . . . pretend that didn't happen," Leo muttered, heading for the kitchen.  
"I appreciate it," Pele answered.

The feasting went on long into the night, with everyone talking and laughing and reminiscing of times past and childhoods lost. Plates were scraped clean and tea was boiling for tea to go with dessert when Donatello's curiosity got the better of him.  
"So . . . Mama Kai, where did the girls come from?" He asked.  
"Hawaii," Kai announced cheerfully.  
"No, I mean, did you find them in a pool of mutagenic goop? Did you steal them from a research laboratory? Did you bio-engineer them yourself? Where did they come from?" The side conversations died down and everyone turned to look at Kai expectantly.  
"Oh, I see what you mean." Kai was silent for a few minutes. She stared thoughtfully at the tabletop, a bemused look on her face until Makai set a steaming hot cup of tea in front of her. Kai looked up at her daughter and smiled.  
"My girls came from the spirits."  
"Uh . . . . come again?" Donnie asked.  
"It's a long story, but therein lies a tale worth the telling," Kai began, sipping her tea.

"You see, I lost my family when I was very young. I grew up a very depressed young woman. When I was still a teenager, I fell in love with a young man named Jonathon. We were married the day I turned eighteen. For two years lived together in wedded bliss. We were just starting to talk about children when tragedy struck. A hurricane was heading towards the island. The actual storm hadn't hit yet, but we were getting torrential rain. He was driving home when his car went out of control on the road. He went over the rail. He was killed instantly. I was in shock for the first few days. Jonathon's death just started to sink in when the hurricane struck. It was a horrendous storm; the worst in living memory. Everyone was evacuated to the leeward side of the island. Everyone but me. I had decided that if Jonathon was dead, I wanted to die, too. He was the only family I ever had and I couldn't bear to continue without him. I refused to leave the house where I had lived with him. I expected the storm to tear it apart around my ears, but it was miraculously untouched." Kai paused to sip her tea.

"When the eye of the storm came, I got impatient and left the house to walk down to the beach. I remember . . . . everything was so deathly still. No birds, no animals, no people. As I headed down to the beach, I started to hear noises. At first I thought it was an injured bird, but as I got closer to the sea, I could tell it was a small child crying. Well, I may have been suicidal, but I didn't think a toddler had to pay for my lack of will to live. I followed the sounds right down to the edge of the water. And that's where I found Makai." Mama Kai wrapped one arm around her youngest daughter and squeezed her tight.

"The poor little thing was so scared. She only looked to be about two years old. She was crying and screaming and she kept calling something out over and over. I think she was calling for her mother. She didn't see me until I was practically on top of her. When she finally noticed me, she just stared up at me for a second. I don't think she'd ever seen a human being before. But then she started to cry again and reached up her hands to be picked up. So I did. I started to take her back to my house, but she started to point and yell something at me. So I took her in the direction she pointed to. We went around a lot of crap that had been washed up by the hurricane, but finally we came to the edge of a lava flow. The lava was still hot, but almost solid from the rain and wind and water. The wind was starting to pick up again and we didn't have much time before we were out of the eye. That's when I saw Pele. She was crouched down by the lava flow, poking at it _with her fingers_." Kai rolled her eyes in exasperation. "She didn't seem scared like Makai was. She was just taking it all in stride. The storm was really picking up by then, so I just grabbed her by the hand and dragged her back to my house. I got them into the bathroom, washed them and dried them off, made them something to eat and then just sat and watched while they slept. The spirits had heard my heart crying out for a family and they answered with my girls."  
"Awww, that's sweet," Mikey said.  
"Doesn't really answer my question, though," Donnie muttered under his breath. Master Splinter nudged him under the table.  
"I just can't wait to get back home," Pele said, smiling. Mama Kai and Uncle Tanaka both looked at her in surprise.  
"You're not – coming back with us, are you?" Kai asked.  
"I – I was hoping to," Pele said slowly. "I don't want to stay here."  
"Pele, it's far too dangerous in Hawaii!" Tanaka cried. "The soldiers still come and search the house every few weeks!"  
"I even saw Bane on the flight to the mainland!" Kai added. "You two are much safer here. No one knows you here and you have four big, strong men to protect you." Pele stared at her guardians for a moment, tense look on her face. Then she put her head in her hands, rubbing her face.  
"I can't stay here," she growled.  
"Pele, it's not that bad!" Makai said.  
"How can you say that?!" Pele snapped, jumping to her feet. Her blue eyes were bright with unshed tears. "I haven't seen the sun in almost a month! I've forgotten what grass feels like under my feet! We live in a sewer for God's sake! I don't know what's worse; the smell or the fact that I've gotten used to it! I can't stay here!" Pele slammed her palms down on the table and rushed out of the room.

Pele sat sulking in the dojo. No one had come after her, thank god. At least the guys knew her well enough to steer clear of her when she was in a mood. Gods, how could they stay here any longer? Pele would have killed to go home and done grievous bodily harm for a swim in a clear, tropical ocean. She didn't know how much longer she could stand to live in this dank, smelly hole. She heard the others talking and moving around the rest of the Lair. Makai's mellow voice came close to the dojo once, but then backed off. Mikey's hyena laugh echoed through the Lair followed a little later by Raphael and Leonardo's voices raised in argument. All in all, Pele didn't know how much time had passed before the dojo door slid open. Pele whirled. Leo stood in the doorway.  
"Leave me alone!" she snapped, hunching back down.  
"Let's go." Leo said simply, gesturing towards the Lair entrance.  
"What?"  
"Let's go."  
"Go where?" Pele asked suspiciously, standing.  
"You want to see the sun, don't you? To feel grass under your feet? Come on; I'll take you," Leo said, watching to make sure no one else was around.  
"I thought you hated it when someone went topside during the daytime," Pele countered. Besides, they were in New York City. Where in this concrete jungle were they going to find a safe place to sun and grass to walk on?  
"It's a big risk; I hate doing it. But if it's what you want, I'll take you," Leo's voice remained soft and calm. Pele felt something flip-flop inside of her. He hated it so much, but he'd take her if that were what she wanted?  
". . . . . . Okay. Where are we going?"

Makai peered around the corner, watching as Leo and Pele left the Lair together.  
"I told you she'd take the bait. Now we can get to work!"  
"My baby's so smart!" Mikey declared with a grin.

Pele flinched from the bright sunlight as she and Leo left the storm drain. It had been so long since she had been out during the day, for a moment all she could do was shield her eyes.  
"Come on, we can't stay here long!" Leo hissed, grabbing her hand and dragging her into the underbrush. Pele looked around in wonder at the forest surrounding her.  
"Where . . . . is this Central Park?" Pele asked.  
"Yeah," Leo said, slowing down. He started along a path, still watching for any signs of humans. "They left certain parts of it pretty wild. Raph likes to come here at night. When you guys took off yesterday, I thought he'd come here."  
"You came looking for us?" Pele asked.  
"Raphael takes off all the time. He's going to get himself killed one of these days. But I was really worried about you; you don't know your way around the city and if the two of you had run into the Foot--," Leo cut himself off sharply. He stopped in a small clearing barely ten feet wide. A gap in the trees allowed sunlight to spill through and light up a small patch of grass. "We can stay here for a while."

Pele walked out into the light and tilted her face upwards. Even though her eyes were closed, the kiss of sunlight on her skin was delicious. With a grin, Pele slowly toppled over backwards to sprawl across the grass. The sea turtle felt her cares start to melt away under the warming rays. A reptile that couldn't sunbathe, even a mutant reptile, was an unhappy creature indeed. Even humans found the urge to sun themselves addictive. Something about the vitamin D their bodies produced when in sunlight . . . . Makai could explain it better. Pele remained sprawled out, letting the sunlight soak through her. She felt the chill that always seemed to be in her hands and feet slowly disappearing. After a time, she rolled over to soak up some heat in her shell and tail. It was then that she noticed Leo was still standing by the trailhead. Though he was obviously guarding the small clearing, he was looking over at her with a pleased expression on his face.  
"Why are you still standing there? Why don't you come lay out me?" Pele asked. Leo blinked, a slight blush coming to his cheeks.  
"No, I should keep a lookout," he protested.  
"We'll hear anyone coming before we see them. Come on," Pele patted the ground next to her. After a moment's hesitation, Leo went and laid stiffly on the ground next to Pele. Satisfied, the female turtle closed her eyes with a soft sigh. Leonardo couldn't relax. It was a big risk to be out in the open like this . . . . but it had made Pele happy. He felt good about that. Of course, she was more a creature of daylight than himself. With her white skin and red-gold spots; she was like having a captive sunbeam in the Lair. The only downside was that she was so miserable there. Raphael had been pissed after her little outburst at the table. He had yelled and ranted that she was ungrateful and spiteful and a few less polite adjectives. Leo had felt a little insulted at first, but then he had taken a look at the pictures Mama Kai had brought. Pele grew up in a tropical paradise, free to sun and swim to her heart's content. Now she had been taken away from that place and locked in a dark, stinking hole in the ground.  
"'Now I know why the caged bird dies, for, like them, I have touched the sky.'" Leo murmured.  
"What?" Pele asked. Leonardo looked over at her. The sun gleamed off of her skin and hair, almost adding a halo effect to her coloring. Her eyes were opened only slightly, the slits of vibrant blue jumping out of all that white, red and gold. For a minute, all he could do was stare.  
"Did you say something, Leo?"  
"I –I just-- . . . . . I love the way you say my name." Pele blushed slightly.  
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, propping her chin up on one hand.  
"Doing what?"  
"Why are you taking me out here to sunbathe when you hate going topside, you hate going out in daylight, and you hate all the risks that go along with it? I can't figure out why you'd do all that for me," Pele said.  
"Well, I, um, I like you," Leo admitted. Maybe the sun was getting to him, too.  
"You like me?" Pele echoed.  
"I . . . . I really **like** you," Leo said, placing the necessary stress where it needed to be.  
"But why?! I'm not a particularly likeable person," Pele admitted. "I'm anti-social, I have a bad temper, and I don't have patience for anyone or anything."  
"You aren't that bad!" Leo protested, starting to relax under the soothing sunlight. "I mean, you put up a good front, but I think, underneath it all, you're really just . . . . very sad." Pele blinked. "I hate to see you so sad all the time. I guess I can understand; I mean, if I used to live in Hawaii and then got stuck in a New York City sewer with four teenaged brothers and a rat, I'd be pretty upset, too." There was a pregnant silence as Pele studied the grass blades under her nose.  
"There's more to it than that. I've always been like this. Did you ever—Do you believe in premonition?"  
"What do you mean?" Leo asked.  
"When I was growing up, as far back as I can remember, I always knew that there was some great betrayal coming down the pike. I always had the feeling that something bad was going to happen to me. I just . . . . always knew. I didn't know what it was going to be, but I knew it was coming. Now . . . . . . now I guess I'm just trying to deal with it."  
"'Great betrayal'?" Leo echoed. "What do you mean?" Pele was silent for a few minutes more, intent on picking the grass blades apart with her fingers.  
"Are you afraid of humans?" she finally asked. Leo blinked. It was a big risk to be seen by humans, or interact with humans, but to actually be afraid of them? Aside from the thug stomping he and his brothers did on their nightly patrol, April and Casey were the only human contact he had. He thought about the stomach-churning feeling he got every time someone screamed in terror at the very sight of them.  
"A little, I guess," he admitted. "I'm afraid of being discovered, of what they might do to us. So yeah, I guess I am afraid of humans."  
"I grew up with them," Pele blurted.  
"Mama Kai and Mr. Tanaka? Yeah, I met them both . . ." Leo said, a bit confused.  
"Not just them. A whole town. There was a tiny little town called Naele, on the island of Kauai. It was only about 200 people. The tourists never went there. Mama Kai thought it would be safe there. Everybody knew about us; we could walk down the street just like regular people." Pele imparted all of this in a broken, quiet whisper.  
"If you had a whole village of people who accepted you then why is it too dangerous for you to even be in the state?" Leo asked. Again Pele waited a few minutes before answering.  
"Do you ever look at someone and just **know** they're going to hurt you? Just – just **know** without a doubt that it's going to end badly? There was a man from the village named Bane Pa'ahana. He was about eight years older than us. He always treated us like his little sisters; he kept the other kids from picking on us, brought us little presents from the outside world, or just sat and listened to every detail from our boring little lives. He was always there. But I always just had this feeling in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't place it; it was just a feeling I had that I shouldn't let my guard down. I felt that way around pretty much everybody except Makai, Mama Kai and Uncle Tanaka, but it was really strong around Bane. When I told Makai and Mama Kai about it, they said I was just being paranoid." Pele pushed herself up to sit back on her feet, still staring at the ground. Leo sat up with her, leaning back on one hand while he listened to her story.

"Mama Kai sat me down and we had this long talk about my trust issues and how I needed to just let go. See, I always had this feeling about Bane, but at the same time, I kind of had a crush on him. He was fairly attractive and he was always nice to me . . . . I guess it was just natural. Mama Kai said it was just me being afraid of rejection and not knowing how to deal with it. So, I tried to ignore my instincts. One day Bane came from Oahu and said he needed to speak with me in private. We went out to one of the pineapple fields and he said . . . . he said . . . ." Tears sparkled Pele's eyes. "I can't believe I was so stupid!!" she wailed, burying her face in her hands.  
"What?! Pele, please tell me!" Leo cried, placing one hand on her shoulder.  
"He- he said he'd fallen in love with me! He wanted me to sneak away with him to his boat so we could be alone together. And I believed him!! I hadn't more than set foot on that bastard's boat than he hit me over the head and tied me up. He started to sail over to Pearl Harbor to deliver me to the government, but I came to when I was still on board. I rolled overboard even though I was still tied up. I swam back to Naele to warn Makai, but Bane had beaten me to it. He went to the town square and offered anyone who helped him catch us fifty thousand dollars, courtesy of the U.S. Navy. That much money erases a lot of memories. I already knew his game, but I couldn't get back home soon enough. Half the town already had Makai surrounded. All I could do was follow them and wait for my chance to free her. I followed that ship across the Pacific by hanging on the anchor chain. They kept moving her around; I couldn't free her at all; I only got the chance the night we met." Pele trailed off, still hiding her face in her hands. "I was so stupid . . . ." she whimpered.  
"No, no, Pele, you're not stupid at all. You just have great instincts. Don't ever ignore them again." Without knowing whether or not the following would get him punched in the kidneys, Leo hugged Pele. "You've got some very good reasons to be sad, Pele. I just wish you weren't. I hate seeing you so sad." Pele choked, startled. Then she hesitantly put her arms around Leonardo. After a moment or two she started to cry in earnest.  
"They were our friends! And they betrayed us!"  
"I know, I know. Ssshhh, it's okay now," Leo murmured in what he hoped was a soothing manner. "It's all right now, Pele. I won't let anybody else hurt you. It's okay."

Several hours later, the pair returned to a silent Lair.  
"Where is everybody?" Pele wondered out loud.  
"I think we should go upstairs," Leo said, leading the way to where the boys' bedrooms were.  
"And why do you think that?" Pele asked suspiciously. Leo unsuccessfully tried to hide a smile.  
"Maybe it's instinct," he allowed, leading her past the bedrooms and towards some of the unfinished chambers at the end of the row.  
"You're up to something!" She declared.  
"Uh huh," Leo said with a grin, pushing open the door to the first storeroom.  
"SURPRISE!!!!" Makai, Donnie, Mikey, Raph, Kai, Michio, Casey, and April all yelled, jumping out from around various items of furniture. Pele took a look around and felt her jaw drop. The storeroom had been cleaned out and furnished as a bedroom, only instead of where the boys had bare brick, a panoramic view of Hawaiian coastline covered the walls. The ceiling was painted sky blue with white fluffy clouds here and there and the support columns were painted to look like palm trees.  
"Like your new bedroom, Pele?" Mikey asked with a big grin. "Since you couldn't go back to Hawaii, we thought we could bring a little bit of Hawaii here!"  
"Yeah! You've got the view, the water," Makai gestured to a fish tank in the corner. The red and white goldfish inside wiggled helpfully. The filter for the tank was one of the waterfall variety, adding the sound of falling water to the room. "And . . . the sun . . . how's that sunlamp coming, Donnie?"  
"I'm working on it!" Don snapped, sucking at one of his fingers as an errant electrical current jolted him.  
"Well, we did the best we could, given the time," April said, shrugging. "We told Leo keep you out as long as he could, but it wasn't like we had a whole weekend like 'Changing Rooms'." Raphael didn't say anything. He was focused on one simple fact. Leonardo and Pele were holding hands.  
"Well?! Say something!" Mama Kai demanded, tackling Pele and giving her a big bear hug.  
"_Mahalo_!" Pele gasped as her breath was squeezed out of her.  
"You're welcome, _tita_!" Makai said, joining in the group tackle. Swaying slightly, Kai started to sing an old song to her daughters. Pele and Makai quickly joined in.

"_I kêia pô, eia au me oe  
Kêia pô, ua hoi mai au  
He loa ka helena ma ke ala hele  
E huli i wahi ma kêia ao  
Maopopo au, ua ike hoI  
Ka home i loko o kuu puuwai  
Ua hoi mai au, ke ike nei au  
Aole au e auana hou  
Ke maopopo he Hawaii au_"

"Tonight I'll be with you  
Tonight I'll be home  
It's been so long traveling on the road  
Trying to find a place in the world  
Now I know, now I see  
My home is in my heart  
I'll be home, I know now  
I'll never roam again  
As long as I remember I'm Hawaiian."


	3. Before Eve

"I cannot help but think this might be a . . . . . waste of effort," Karai murmured quietly. She stood in the laboratory of one of the Foot's strongholds, staring at the object floating in the tank in front of her. An enormous shadow loomed out of the darkness.

"It's okay; you can say it. This is a stupid idea," Hun growled. For once, Karai didn't argue with him.

"I hope the Shredder doesn't hear you say that," a mechanical voice announced. Karai groaned and rolled her eyes as a smaller tube tank rolled up to them, the brain and eyeball that were all that was left of Baxter Stockman providing a gruesome reminder of what happened to those who disagreed with the Shredder. "And for your information, the idea was the Shredder's, but it has been brilliantly carried out with my unfathomable genius!"

"Stockman, your unfathomable genius has led you to become a brain in a jar," Hun pointed out.

"By failures that were beyond my control! This plan will work!!" Baxter snapped.

"No," Karai said quietly. "It won't. There are too many uncontrollable aspects. When this creature is awakened, it will be as a newborn child! It won't even be able to walk or speak!"

"You underestimate me again," Baxter said smugly. "A direct neural interface downloads all necessary information directly into the brain. The muscles are electrically stimulated to mimic real exercise. She's perfect."

"A direct neural link? Like in 'The Matrix'?" Hun asked. Baxter's single eyeball flailed around briefly. It took Karai a few minutes to figure out he was trying to roll his eyes.

"Yes, like the Matrix," he sighed.

"It knows ninjitsu, then?" Karai asked.

"Virtually instructed by Shredder himself," Stockman said smugly. "When this creature is awakened, it will be the perfect assassin to take out the turtles. There's no way they'll be able to resist." The object in the tube jerked suddenly, causing Hun and Karai to jump.

"It's moving!" Hun cried, startled.

"Of course she is," Baxter sighed, exasperated. "Note the REM—rapid eye movements. It's dreaming, that's all." A few of the monitors in the lab jumped, the images dissolving into static for a few seconds before resuming their normal displays.

"What is happening now?" Karai asked.

"The computer programs tasked with monitoring her brain activities have problems with abstract dreaming. Sometimes they lose track of it for a minute or two. It's nothing to worry about," Baxter stressed. Hun and Karai watched the monitors jump and fizzle uneasily.

"How soon is that thing going to be out of the tube?" Hun asked.

"Very soon!" Baxter informed him happily. "I just can't wait to see her in action! I already have a name picked out and everything!" Unnoticed by the three watching the tube, a few of the security cameras shifted slightly to focus in on the small group. A computer monitor in the back of the lab flipped on by itself, the security routines and codes running across the screen faster than the eye could follow.

"A name?" Karai said coldly. "Allow me to guess: Eve."

"How about Karai Jr.?" Hun suggested, grinning evilly. Karai shot him a dirty look.

"I won't dignify that with a response, Hun."

"Well, it is from Judeo-Christian mythology, but it's not Eve. It's the woman who came before Eve; Adam's demon wife, Lilith," Baxter yammered on, oblivious to the hostility between the two warriors.

"Lilith? Hmm. Very appropriate," Karai allowed. She turned to go, then cast one last look at the thing in the tank. Well, there was no getting around what it was; it was a human-turtle hybrid. A female one. One personally instructed by the Shredder and programmed to be the perfect assassin by Stockman. She was a marvel of genetic engineering, a perfect blend of all the best parts of both Mutant Turtle and human being, and as flawlessly designed as a sculpture by the original Michelangelo. Lilith was tough and loyal and beautiful; Karai couldn't help but wonder if Lilith was also her replacement.

In an abandoned warehouse on the corner of Eastman and Laird, a sudden light lit up the windows. It dimmed quickly, leaving four dark figures standing in the middle of the floor. They quickly darted into the shadows, leaving the warehouse just as they had left it.

"I can't believe this," a deep voice growled from the shadow of a support beam. "Mikey and Makai went out for that pizza over an hour ago! Something must have happened to them!"

"Keep calm, Raph," A second voice said from a shadow in the corner. "We'll find them. Pele, do you think you know your way around enough to search a section of the city?" Silence reigned. "Pele?"

"I heard you, Leo," said a feminine voice from the shadow of an armored car. "I just don't think it will come to that."

"Why not?" asked a fourth voice. Pele gave an exasperated sigh.

"Because the Battle Shell's giggling and smells like pepperoni." The small turtle stepped out of the shadows and studied the large, imposing vehicle. "Plus the windows are all steamed up." Pele was wearing a black gi to cover her light, showy markings and a black bandana covered her hair lest the moonlight glint off of the fair tresses. Hopping up to perch awkwardly on the Battle Shell's running board, Pele wrenched the door open, eliciting two startled cries from inside.

"Perverts!" she declared, averting her eyes. Mikey and Makai climbed out sheepishly, both adjusting the baggy clothing designed to cover as much of their mutated bodies as possible. The other three turtles left the shadows.

"Michelangelo!" Leo cried accusingly. "We've been worried sick about you and you were up here with Makai . . . ."

"Necking?" Donnie suggested helpfully. Leo flushed a deep purple.

"And I suppose the pizza's cold now, too?" Raph growled, retrieving the pie from the front seat of the Battle Shell. "I hate microwaved pizza."

"Sorry," Mikey muttered bashfully. "We just got a little carried away."

"Tramp," Pele growled. Makai turned on her sister, pulling down her dark sunglasses.

"You're just jealous!" she declared. "I bet you and Leo haven't even kissed yet!" It was Pele's turn to blush. Of course, this was of no great shock. Pele blushed all the time. She blushed when she was angry, embarrassed, shy, pleased; the list went on and on. Perhaps it was the white skin on her face that made it so easy to notice, or perhaps Pele lived up to her namesake in that every strong emotion started a fire raging under her skin.

"I . . . I . . . uh . . . we . . . um . . . we're just good friends," she stammered helplessly. Leo looked over at her, a slight look of distress coming to his face. Over by the lift, Raphael barely managed to hide a smug smile. So Pele hadn't made up her mind yet? There was still hope for him, then.

"Come on, you guys. Let's get home before the pizza gets any colder," he cried, feeling better than he had in a long time.

"You shouldn't waffle back and forth," Makai chided. "It's cruel to lead Leo on like that. After all; where else is he going to find another female turtle?"

"Master Shredder, that **thing** is awake!" Karai reported, unsure if the feeling in her stomach was dread or disgust.

"What?! The Dark Genesis project was not to be awakened for two more weeks!" The Shredder rasped, starting up from where he had been meditating.

"I am sorry to disappoint you, Master, but it has awoken of it's own volition. I ordered the lab techs to keep it in its tank until you could be summoned."

"Good work, Karai," the Shredder spat. "No doubt this is that idiot Stockman's doing. To me, Karai! We will see to this matter before it becomes a problem." Karai fell in behind her master wordlessly, secretly glad that Baxter's pride and joy had gotten off to a less than perfect start.

When the Shredder burst through the doors of the laboratory, the first thing he saw was project Dark Genesis. She was floating upside down in her tank, her feet just barely touching the lid and the breather mask stretched downward as far as it would go. She was locking eyes with Hun. The turtle-hybrid had blue eyes, Karai noted. And right now they were boring into Hun's eyes with all the cold precision of a diamond drill bit. Hun was glaring back at her with all the ferocity he possessed, but the creature looked distinctly non-plussed. She was simply looking him over in a calculating manner, as if judging how much trouble he'd be to fight . . . . or how much meat his carcass would supply.

"Stockman!!" Shredder roared. Hun looked away from the tank sheepishly. His eyes looked a little red, as if the staring contest wasn't going his way. Karai barely resisted the urge to roll her own eyes. Anyone who'd get into a staring contest with someone immersed in fluid was the worst kind of idiot. Of course, this is where she had always grouped Hun, so this thought was no great leap in logic. Stockman came rolling up in his jar.

"Master Shredder?" he said innocently. The Shredder pointed his blades at the turtle in the tank.

"What is it doing awake?!"

"Ah . . . she woke up early. On her own. All of her systems appear to be complete and intact; it seems she was just . . . . ready to wake up," the former scientist said weakly. The Shredder said nothing, simply glared at the female turtle before him. Dark Genesis stared back at him impassively, her long black hair floating up around her head and shoulders. After a moment, she pushed off the lid of the tank and somersaulted gracefully. Twisting a bit on the way down, she settled right side up facing the Shredder. Karai couldn't help but notice her feet were in ballet's third position. Reaching up as casually as if she were tying back her hair, the turtle grasped the thick cable that seemed to run straight into the back of her head. Baxter suddenly rushed forward.

"No, no, no! Lilith, don't do that! Don't touch your cranial jack! Leave it alone! Do it for Daddy, okay?" Lilith spared Baxter a momentary glance, then pulled sharply. The cable came away with a spark, causing all of the monitors in the lab to go black.

"Lilith?" Shredder echoed.

"Daddy?" Hun said in the same breath. Lilith didn't even look down at her 'daddy', who was currently trying to coax her into reattaching her cranial jack. Her diamond blue eyes were locked on the Shredder, her hands resting lightly on the glass of the tank. The breather mask still obscured the lower half of her face, but her entire body radiated a sense of expectancy.

"It seems she is ready to come out. Drain the tank, Stockman," Shredder ordered. Baxter hesitated, turning back and forth from Lilith to the Shredder before going to a console and inserting a probe from the base of his tank. The fluid began to drain from Lilith's tank instantly. It only took a few minutes for the last of the fluid to gurgle out of the bottom of the tank. Then the glass rose, leaving Lilith standing alone. She pulled the breather mask off and shook her hair back, wobbling slightly. Still unsteady, she stepped down from the platform and made her way towards the Shredder. Her legs shook with every step. Lilith was only a few feet away when Karai realized why. These were Lilith's first steps; she had never had to support her own weight before. But . . . wait, Stockman had said that her muscles had been stimulated electrically to mimic exercise. So why was she so unsteady? Lilith suddenly fell, landing sharply on her knees just in front of the Shredder. She gazed up at him through a dark curtain of wet hair.

"Master . . ." she breathed. Though his metal mask covered Oroku Saki's face, the corner of his eyes crinkled up as though he were smiling.

"I think you'll do nicely," he announced.

Lilith spent the next two weeks training under the Shredder's diligent eye, killing three Foot ninja, mortally wounding five, and seriously injuring an Elite Guard in the course of her 'lessons'. Karai was less than pleased about the loss of her men, but the Shredder seemed delighted with Lilith's bloodlust. He entrusted her with her own quarters and free run of the entire complex. It was driving Karai insane.

She wasn't jealous of Lilith being the Shredder's new pet project any more than she was jealous of Baxter Stockman for being smart or Hun for being strong. It wasn't even the casualties to the Foot ninja; part of being a ninja was danger and the loss of a man, even to sparring practice, wasn't that unusual. It was Lilith's smirk. It didn't matter what circumstances they met under, it could be sparring, it could be out on training runs, they could simply pass each other in the hallway; Lilith would ever-so casually slide her blue eyes in Karai's direction and the corner of her plush lips would turn up so slightly and she would just smirk. Lilith smirked like someone who knew all your darkest secrets and couldn't decide who to tell first. She smirked like a cat that had not only eaten the canary, but managed to blame it on the dog. She smirked like someone who had taken a long, hard look at life and finally seen the joke. Karai wanted to wipe that smirk off of Lilith's face with her fist.

Perhaps that was why Karai was a little surprised to find Lilith in her private quarters, holding up Karai's black silk furisode up her shoulders like she was shopping.

"What are you doing in my chambers?!" Karai demanded. "That's my best kimono! Put it back where you found it!" Lilith turned slightly, peering at Karai through a thin veil of black hair. After a moment, she smiled.

"I was waiting for you, dear Karai," Lilith murmured. Lilith's voice was deep and throaty, perfect for a seductive assassin. Lilith was beautiful; after all, she was designed to be. For every deadly technique she mastered, it seemed she also learned another seduction technique. She flirted with every male she came in contact with. Oh, not the giggling, eyelash fluttering of some besotted schoolgirl, but the subtle invitation of an accomplished courtesan. Every move she made was judged for grace and beauty. She left her black hair long and loose, painted her oversized finger and toenails blood red and had even taken to wearing makeup. Karai had wondered who was teaching her all of this on more than one occasion, but didn't think it was her place to ask.

"And why," Karai growled through gritted teeth. "Would you be waiting for me?"

"Perhaps I just wanted to talk to you," Lilith suggested, bearing her teeth in a brilliant white smile. Her mouth may have smiled, but her eyes continued to mock.

"What would we have to talk about?" Karai asked. Lilith paused to return Karai's furisode to its display hanger.

"Oh, just girl talk. You know; fashions that can easily conceal weapons, hairstyles that hold up well in combat, and makeup that can hide unsightly bruises?" Karai glared icily at the turtle. "No? Does this mean we can't be the best of friends?"

"Get out of my chambers." Karai ordered pointing at the door. "I have no interest in your friendship. Rest assured, we won't be 'just like sisters' or 'best friends forever'." Lilith shrugged lightly, that bemused smirk still firmly in place. She started towards the door.

"Well, of course we couldn't be like sisters," Lilith stated, waiting until she was just inside the door before letting the other shoe drop. "You're my mother, after all."

"Would you care to repeat that?" Karai asked coldly.

"I believe you heard me," Lilith said. "The human portion of my DNA came from you, Karai. You are my biological mother. Now obviously there was some corruption of the helixes when it was merged with the mutant turtle DNA, but the mitrochondrial strains remain intact. Mummy dearest." Lilith treated Karai to an evil grin.

"You're lying," Karai protested weakly. Why had she never noticed the slightly Asian slant of Lilith's eyes . . . or the fact that they were the same shade of blue as her own?

"Am I? Perhaps you should ask Master Shredder." With another of her maddening smirks, the turtle human hybrid headed out into the hallway.

"Wait!" Karai cried. "If I'm your biological mother, which one of the turtles is your father?!" It shouldn't have mattered, really. But for some reason it mattered deeply. Lilith saw this and simply gave one of her icy smiles.

"Who did you want it to be?" She challenged in a near whisper. Karai stared, willing herself to remain silent. "Hhhmn. If you'll excuse me, I'm off to torment Hun now. That man has serious psychological problems. They're fun to play with."

Hun was in the locker room. He had just emerged from the showers and was still nude except for a towel wrapped around his waist. The locker room was empty; most of the Foot Ninja preferred training in groups. At least, Hun thought it was empty until he felt a warm, eager tongue run up his bare spine.

Hun bellowed like a wounded bear, whirling around to plant a meaty fist in his adversary's head. But his attacker was already gone and his hand met only metal. Hun cursed, pulling his lacerated fist out of the remnants of the locker behind him.

"Oh, poor Hun. Did you hurt yourself?" Lilith appeared as if by magic in the same row of lockers but just out of reach.

"Freak slut! This is your doing!" Hun growled, brandishing his bleeding hand at her. Without a word, Lilith snapped out a clean white towel and bandaged Hun's hand gently, almost tenderly.

"There we are," Lilith murmured, bowing her head to kiss his wounded digits. Hun jerked his hand back before her lips could touch his flesh.

"What do you want, freak slut?" He demanded. Hun didn't protest her presence in the men's locker room, or his near nudity. He wouldn't have given her the satisfaction of knowing she had caught him off guard. Lilith smiled. She liked Hun. He was strong, straightforward and uncomplicated. Despite what she had told Karai, there wasn't anything desperately wrong with Hun's mind . . . not yet anyway. Lilith had hopes of inducing a psychosis or two before she was finished with him.

"'Freak slut' almost sounds like an endearment coming from you, Hun." Lilith said lightly, pacing around Hun, her shapely hips swinging. "I'm feeling very unloved right now. I entrusted Karai with the knowledge that she is my biological mother and her only concern was which turtle was my biological father. She could have at least been proud of my skills."

"Really?" Hun said with sudden interest. "And did you tell her which one it was?"

"I asked her which one she wanted it to be and she became very upset."

"**Really**?" Hun sat on a bench, tapping one finger against his chin in sudden cogitation. Dark, self-serving thoughts flashed behind Hun's eyes. Lilith smiled.

Her motive in betraying this bit of information was the same as lying to Karai about Hun's mental state: she wanted the Shredder's lieutenants to hate each other. There was already a deep rift between Hun and Karai; Lilith wanted to widen it to a chasm. Karai already thought Hun was little more than a knuckle-dragging psycho, so why not encourage that line of thinking? Hun believed Karai to be having second thoughts about the Foot's mission in New York, so why not keep him updated on her doubts? Lilith had no immediate use for Karai and therefore wasted no time in alienating her 'mother'. Hun, on the other hand . . . . oh, she had such delicious plans for Hun. Lilith paced around to stand next to the massive human male with the measured grace of a ballet dancer.

After a moment, Hun turned to her with a wide, insincere smile.

"It's very good that you brought this to my attention . . .Lilith. If Karai shows any other disturbing behavior you'll keep me informed, won't you?" He hesitated before saying her name. It was the first time he had ever used it. The corners of Lilith's lips turned up in a smirk. She reached for Hun's injured hand and brought it to her lips for a gentle kiss. This time he didn't pull away.

"I'm sure we can work something out."

Way down below street level, Pele suddenly waved out of a sparring match with Leonardo to lean against the wall.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Pele was concentrating on breathing evenly and deeply.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a dizzy spell."

"Why are you having dizzy spells?" Leo asked, still concerned. The others left off their training to gather around the small turtle.

"It's April," Pele said by way of explanation.

"What's April got to do with it?" Mikey asked, clearly confused.

"The month, not the person, dummy," Pele growled.

"Ooooooooh," Makai said in sudden understanding. "It's spring again already? Where does the time go?"

"'Ah spring; when a young man's fancy turns to love'," Splinter quoted, joining the group. "And what does a young lady turtle's fancy turn to?"

"Nesting," Pele admitted. There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

"Nesting?" Raphael echoed. "What do you mean by 'nesting'?"

"I mean, I'm getting ready to lay an egg," Pele said.

"An Egg?!" The four brothers shouted at once.

"You mean like, an 'egg' egg?!" Donnie cried.

"And . . . who is the father?" Splinter asked suspiciously. Mike, Don, and Raph slowly turned and looked at Leo, who turned a pale shade of chartreuse.

"There is no father," Pele announced. "It won't be a fertile egg. It will just be a dud. There won't be a baby in it."

"Aw, that's a shame," Raph chuckled. "I thought things were going liven up around here." Pele made a face at him.

"Well, being gravid is kinda like being pregnant; you still blimp up, get morning sickness, and get cravings. It just only lasts a month or so. Then you just lay an egg," Pele explained.

"We're going to need to get you someplace to lay," Makai interjected.

"That's true. We can build a nest box like we did when Hurricane Inniki hit the islands," Pele said.

"Are you going to lay an egg, too?" Mikey asked, turning to Makai.

"No, Pele lays in the spring and I tend to lay in the fall. I don't know why it's different; that's just the way it's always been."

"I see," Splinter said. "Perhaps you should discontinue training for the day, Pele. I wouldn't want you to overexert yourself."

"Yes, Master Splinter," Pele said, bowing out of the dojo. She headed for the kitchen. The was a jar of crunchy dill pickles calling her name. Oh, and maybe some ice cream . . .

"Oh, you're **so** smart, Daddy! Will you teach me something new today?" Lilith simpered, gazing adoringly at what was left of Baxter Stockman.

"Certainly, sweetheart!" Stockman said, guiding Lilith's cranial jack into place. The myriad of computer screens surrounding Lilith lit up as they were activated by her brainwaves. "What would you like to learn today? Genetic engineering? Quantum physics? Nanotechnology?"

"How about . . . robotics." Lilith said with a cold smile "Or cybernetics."

"I think we can manage that," Baxter said, keying in the orders to download the information directly into Lilith's brain. "I can even give you the technological secrets we gleaned from the Utroms."

"Delicious," Lilith purred.

"You're so lucky that I'm here to teach you," Baxter continued, oblivious to the deadly edge to the turtle hybrid's voice. "Who knows more about technology than the genius, Baxter Stockman?"

"Don! Don!!!! DON!!!" Makai yelled, both hands clamped firmly over her ears. She was in a cavernous chamber newly re-claimed from the sewers. Donnie was supposed to be making a ten foot by ten foot box of sand for Pele to nest in. Makai sucked in a deep breath.

"**DONATELLO!!!!!**" Donnie finally looked around and shut off the masonry saw he had balanced on his hip. He pulled the respirator off of his beak and slid the ear protectors down onto his neck so he could hear.

"Hi, Makai. What's up?"

"WHAT PART – I mean, what part of 'a box of sand' did you not understand?" The Hawaiian turtle inquired. Donnie looked at the materials in the room like he'd never seen them before. There were the cement bricks stacked loosely across the middle of the floor like a wall, the water pipes lain against the wall, the remains of an industrial water heater he planned to fix, the water pump, bags of cement waiting to be mixed, and just about every power tool on the market. The only things absent were a box and sand. Makai felt like someone who had ordered a gravel footpath and come back to find construction underway for an eight lane highway.

"A box with sand in it. That's all we need," Makai reiterated. A determined look crossed Donnie's face.

"I can do better than that." He stated, putting on his safety gear and firing up the saw again.

Karai hesitated at the doorway out of the complex. She shouldn't be doing this. This was wrong; very wrong. If Master Shredder found out . . . but somehow, she just couldn't stop herself. Karai ghosted through the doorway and disappeared into the shadows of the city. It had been several weeks since Lilith's great revelation about her blood relationship, but Karai still hadn't learned who her biological father was. Lilith remained her usual smug self, but Karai could feel the evil in her building, like a dark shadow that followed the hybrid through the complex. Even Hun was getting jumpy and nervous around Lilith. The darker and more dangerous she grew, the more the thought of Leonardo and the others welcoming the viper into their home tore at Karai's heart. She couldn't sleep at night. Food no longer held any flavor for her. Karai had begun to go on late night patrols alone. At first she had told herself it was simply to clear her mind, but now she knew what she was really doing. She was looking for Leonardo. The Foot Ninja had spotted him out by himself more and more lately. Karai didn't know what she would do if she found him. All she knew was that she had to look.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! We've got leakage here!! Donnie, shut the water off!!" Casey bellowed. Mikey, Makai, and Casey quickly scrambled for higher ground as water poured out of the large brick pool that encompassed almost half the room. Pele looked down with interest as the water sloshed around her bare feet.

"Ooo, it's already hot," she noted with a smile. The actual 'nest box' was already completed. It was a raised brick box that looked almost identical to the hot water pool; only it was filled with sand and warmed by sunlamps. Donatello had added a hot shower to a post in the middle of the room, a small steam sauna covered over with plastic sheeting skillfully stretched to look like paper walls, and was now working on a gigantic hot tub. The room looked more like a Japanese bathhouse than a delivery room. Donatello abandoned the water pump to scowl at the water trickling out from between the bricks.

"I'll have to re-seal it again. Then we'll have to wait another day before we can fill it up."

"Awww," Mikey groaned. "Does this mean no hot tub party tonight?"

"That's exactly what it means," Donnie said, pulling out a caulking gun and crouching down inside the tub. A chorus of groans met his prognosis. Makai and Mikey tossed down the towels they had brought and headed back into the Lair proper. Casey started to follow.

"Hey, are you coming, Pele?" He asked. Pele had levered herself up onto the edge of the bath and was watching Donnie work.

"No, I'm going to stay here and watch," she said.

"Suit yourself," Casey said, following Mikey and Makai. Pele had, indeed, 'blimped up' in the last few weeks. She was visibly pregnant now, waddled instead of walked, and ate constantly. She had taken to wearing one of Casey's old Rangers jerseys over her swollen body. Pele watched Donnie work with interest, crunching away at a bag of potato chips. After a few minutes, he sighed and turned to look at her.

"Do you think you could crunch those a little quieter?" He asked, clearly irritated. Pele paused, popped another chip into her mouth and chewed.

"Apparently not," she admitted.

"Then do you think you could let me work in peace?" Don asked.

"Sorry," Pele muttered, sliding off of the bath wall. She headed towards the door, clearly disappointed. She had really been looking forward to a long soak in blistering hot water. Her back and legs hurt all the time and there was no comfortable position to lie in anymore. God, she hated being gravid. Before Pele reached the door, steam rising from heated water caught her eye. Along the wall was a brick housing similar to the bath and the nest box. It contained the water pump for the bath. The top was still open pending the completion of the bath itself. Leaning over the fixture, Pele could see that while the tub was still leaking, the housing around the water pump was full. There wasn't a great deal of room inside, but a small turtle might just fit. Casting off her hockey jersey, Pele eased down inside, stifling a groan as she was immersed in hot water. Oh, yes, this was just what her aching muscles needed. With a sigh, she settled back against the brickwork. Shell, she could almost fall asleep in here.

Karai had found him. Leonardo was by himself once again, leaping from rooftop to rooftop as casually as most people walked down the street. He had a small parcel tucked under one arm but it didn't look like anything suspicious. Karai was on his tail before she even realized it, closing the space between them in record time. Leonardo gave no outward appearance of having noticed her until she was right behind him. Then he whirled around, katana drawn and at her throat before she could have even thought of doing anything about it.

"Karai." Leo said in surprise, taking a few steps backwards. He still had his katana at the ready with one hand. In the other he held a small bag containing a jar of pickles and a carton of ice cream.

"Leonardo." Karai breathed. Now that she had finally found him, she had no idea what to do or say. When she said nothing, Leo's eyes darted around, obviously seeking the Foot Ninja he expected to be with her.

"I came alone," Karai assured him. "I should not be here."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked.

"You said once that I understood honor. Perhaps that is why I am here. I fear my honor is being compromised by serving the Shredder." Karai looked away shamefully as she spoke.

"You don't have to serve him," Leo said quietly.

"I must. It is my duty. But the least that I could do is warn you. The Shredder will try to infiltrate your home. Accept no one into it; no matter how appealing they seem."

"Karai?" Leo said, the question obvious in his voice. Karai started, suddenly wary.

"I must go! I have said too much already!" Karai bolted for the edge of the roof.

"Wait!" Leo cried. The lady ninja hesitated. "Thank you. Not only do you understand honor, you possess a great deal of it." Karai hesitated a moment longer, gave Leo a sad smile, then leapt off the roof and disappeared into the night.

When Pele woke up she was freezing cold and stiff. She soon realized why; the water in the housing around the heat pump had drained away while she slept, leaving her soaking wet and curled up in the floor of the pump housing. Oh well, that had been nice while it lasted. With a yawn, she reached up for the edge of the housing wall. Her fingers found the edge, but quickly slipped off the wet tiles. She tried to sit up so she could just stand, but her swollen abdomen quickly put a stop to that plan. All right then, she would roll over onto her stomach and just stand up from there. Pele tried turning and found that her bent knees couldn't turn in the narrow confines of the pump housing.

"Holy shell," she muttered out loud. "I'm stuck in here."

Karai quickly re-entered the compound and made her way back to her quarters. A thousand emotions were warring in her chest. She should feel ashamed for betraying her master, but all she felt was relief on that front. Leonardo had said she possessed a great deal of honor, but she was still standing by while Lilith was primed to destroy him and his whole family. Tears burned her eyes as she locked herself in her chambers and leaned back against the door.

"If you only knew the truth, you wouldn't think me honorable, Leonardo. Not at all," she whispered. A single tear leaked from the corner of her eye and trickled down her cheek.

"Delicious." Karai's head whipped around as Lilith melted out of the shadows. "You're in love with him! How utterly revolting!" The turtle hybrid laughed merrily. "If you'd fall in love with the enemy, you might even betray your master."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Karai snapped. "I was merely speaking to myself concerning a matter of honor! I don't expect you would understand. I would certainly never betray the Shredder." Lilith arched an eyeridge, produced a small tape recorder and pressed a button.

"_The Shredder will try to infiltrate your home. Accept no one into it; no matter how appealing they seem."_

"_Karai?" _Lilith clicked the 'off' button, relishing the trapped look on Karai's face.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's not nice to lie?" She purred.

"So. I expect you will show this to the Shredder now?" For some reason, Karai felt almost relieved. If the Shredder no longer trusted her, that meant she would no longer be expected to serve him. Even if he slaughtered her as punishment, she would no longer have to live a lie.

"Well, it depends on what we can work out, really," Lilith said pleasantly.

"You're blackmailing me?" Karai hissed.

"I prefer the term 'extortion'. The 'x' makes it sound cooler."

"And what is it you wish me to do?" Karai asked through gritted teeth.

"I'll let you know when I think of it. Until then, just consider this little baby your Sword of Damocles. And I must say, you're taking this surprisingly well. Hun nearly blew a gasket when I procured the information to blackmail him with." Curiosity got the better of Karai.

"What was that?" Lilith told her. Even ninja training couldn't keep the look of total revulsion off of her face. "No!"

"It's true. Hun was rather eager to keep that little tidbit private," Lilith purred, an evil grin on her face.

"How did you find out?" Karai asked. Lilith didn't answer, just smiled quietly to herself. Karai turned green. "You-you didn't, did you? I'm going to be ill!"

"Hey Donnie! Could you give me a hand?!" Pele called, her voice echoing off of the tiles. Silence greeted her. "Donnie? Donatello?" Still no answer. Don must have finished resealing the tub while she was asleep and left the bathhouse without ever seeing her. Pele was stuck until someone came back in.

"Makai!! Mikey! Shell, I'd even settle for Casey!!" The small turtle called. There was no evidence that anyone had heard her cries. "Somebody?! Anybody?!" Pele had all but resigned herself to spending the night in the pump housing when she heard the door slide open.

"Donnie? Mike? Leo?" She said quickly. There was a pause as the newcomer tried to locate her.

"Pele?" Raph said questioningly.

"I'm here!" Pele stuck her hand up out of the tub and waved frantically. Moments later, Raphael's face appeared above the pump housing.

"What are you doing in there?" He asked. Pele felt her cheeks flush red.

"I'm stuck. Can you get me out?" The fair turtle asked in a small voice. Raph looked her over, clearly bemused, then leaned so far down into the well housing Pele thought he was trying to claim a kiss for getting her out.

"Put your arms around my neck," he instructed in a strangely soft voice. After a moment's hesitation, Pele did so. Raphael pulled himself upright easily, even with the fair turtle hanging off of him. When he was standing, he swept one arm under her knees and carried her over to the tub. Raph deposited her gently by the towels discarded by Makai and Mikey then picked them up and wrapped them around Pele.

"Mahalo. Please don't tell anyone I was stuck in there," She said, looking acutely embarrassed. Raphael gave her another bemused smile.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," he said, his voice still strangely soft. Pele simply looked at him for a moment. Why was his voice different? It was so . . . . nice. And his expression was much softer than usual; not at all the look of jaded boredom he usually wore. What was so different? Pele was so involved in gazing into Raphael's eyes that she didn't notice he was leaning forward until their beaks were practically touching. Oh Gods! He was going to kiss her! Pele tried to jerk her head backwards but found she was already flat against the brickwork of the tub. Her blue eyes flew open wide as Raphael's lips covered hers. Pele was surprised she could hear anything over the panicked thundering of her own heart, but the sound of a bag containing a jar of pickles and a carton of ice cream hitting the floor reached her loud and clear.

Raphael pulled back to look in surprise at Leonardo. Pele took the opportunity to sock Raph roughly in the shoulder then scramble away. The gravid turtle lurched awkwardly to her feet, taking shelter behind Leo for a moment before fleeing back to the Lair. Raph rubbed his shoulder awkwardly.

"You could have just said 'No'," he muttered under his breath.

Leonardo was seeing red. It was one thing if Pele had decided she wanted to be with Raphael, but she obviously hadn't. Raph had **forced** his attentions on her. He had overpowered her when she was heavy with egg and unable to protect herself. Leo didn't even remember moving. He only vaguely aware of drawing one fist back and punching Raphael square in the mouth. Then he was on top of his brother, pounding away with his fists while his lungs burned and his heart pumped battery acid. Everything was a blur until Mikey grabbed him by one arm and Donnie the other, hauling him away from Raph, who sat up gingerly, clutching his bleeding face.

"Geez, Leo!! What the shell happened?!" Mikey cried.

"I saw you, Raph! You were forcing yourself on Pele!! And just when she's gravid and can't defend herself!! You scum! You disgust me!!!" Leo roared. Raphael spat out a tooth and stared at his raving brother with shocked disbelief.

"Forcing myself?! I kissed her, that's all! And she wasn't complaining until you came in! Damn, Leo, I can't help it if she's so damn cute when she's pregnant." There was a moment of silence.

"You think pregnant women are hot?" Donnie asked.

"Raph's got a pregnant fetish," Mikey sang teasingly.

"Eeeeeewwwww," Donnie groaned.

"Pele hit you, Raph; she was fighting back," Leo protested, shaking himself free of his brothers' grip.

"She hit me after you came in. She didn't make a peep before that." Raph sighed, knowing he had bungled things up bad with Pele. "She looked like she wanted a kiss," he muttered. Leo growled deep in his throat. Mikey quickly caught him and steered him towards the Lair.

"Hey, here's an idea; why don't you go find Pele and cheer her up?" He suggested brightly. The two of them almost ran smack into Makai, who was heading in to see what all the fuss was about.

"Um . . . . if you're looking for Pele, she said she was going to April's for a while."

" . . . . And then Leo came in and I just kind of panicked and bolted. I mean, I **like** Leo and I'm pretty sure he likes me, but well . . . . . Raph kissed me. Leo's never tried to kiss me. I mean, I think he's just shy, but how long should I wait to find out? 'Cause . . . . Raph kissed me. And he has such a deep voice . . ." Pele finally stopped talking long enough to pop a few grapes in her mouth. April leaned her head back against the couch pillows and wished she had something stronger than the glass of wine in her hand. For all the wisdom and honor her unusual friends possessed, she sometimes forgot they were just teenagers; hormonal, moody, and in some cases, temporarily pregnant teenagers. April took a sip of wine and glanced sideways at Pele, who was back to her inane ranting about the whole Leo vs. Raph issue. The whole 'gravid but not pregnant' thing really threw her. As an intelligent, educated woman, technically she did understand the concept, but her instincts kept telling her Pele was about to have a baby.

"So, I just don't know what to do. What do you think I should do, April?"

"Well, you know, there's no rush to pick one of them. If anything happens, it will happen in it's own time," April offered, trying to sound worldly and wise. Pele gave her a flat look.

"Have you tried living with Leo and Raph while they were both trying to win your heart?" She inquired.

"Um, no," April admitted. Just plain living with Leo and Raph had been bad enough.

"Let me tell you, it inspires you to make up your mind a pretty damn quick," Pele growled, stuffing more grapes into her mouth. "I don' (gulp) (smack) know which one t' choose."

"Oh, just pick the one who's best in the sack," April muttered under her breath. Pele swallowed hard.

"What did you say?!"

"Um, I said, given your rather unique situation, you should choose which one would make the best father!" April suggested brightly.

For the first time since her arrival, Pele stopped eating. Her blue eyes grew as big and round as saucers, as if April had suggested seppuku was the best alternative to choose.

"The – the best . . . . father?" She said weakly. For a moment, Pele mind wandered ten years into the future . . . .

_"Splinter Jr. this room is a mess!" Leo cried, gesturing about the neat and orderly space. "These books should be grouped by size, then alphabetically! Not just by size! And look; these bamboo training swords should be spaced at least eighteen inches apart . . . this one's only twelve inches from the others! As my eldest son, you have a duty to set an example for your younger brothers! What do you have to say for yourself?!" A turtle toddler, no more than four years old, stared up at his father and pulled his thumb out of his mouth._

"_Sowwy, Daddy," he whispered._

"_Splinter Jr. it's time to train now. What do you call me when we're training?" Leo said sternly._

"_Sensei, Daddy. Sensei."_

"All right, go get your little brothers, Splinter II and Splinter III and start your katas. Your sister, Splinterina, is six months old today. I think that's old enough to be potty trained."

Back in the present, Pele shuddered.

"Well, I'll be sleeping with the lights on tonight."

"Don't be so dramatic. I'm sure they'll mellow out as they get older," April sighed.

"They'll mellow out, huh?" Pele murmured. Maybe a mellow Raphael wouldn't be so bad . . . . .

"You were supposed to be watching the kids, Raph! I go to visit Mama Kai for two hours and now they're gone?!" Future Pele cried.

"_Oh, they're around here somewhere, sweetheart, don't worry." Older and much more mellow Raph said. Grinning, he picked up the mangled remains of a baby gate. "I told you this thing wouldn't work; they are my kids, after all." From upstairs, the sound of a horrendous crash shook the small house. _

"_See? I told you they'd turn up." Swearing under her breath, Pele waddled upstairs, already heavy with her next no doubt fertile egg. Five turtle kids looking like they'd all been born nine months and fifteen minutes apart peered out the shattered window with interest, as if throwing a full chest of drawers from a second story window was a great scientific achievement that needed to be fully documented. The oldest girl flashed a panicked look at her mother._

"_This looked like a great idea on paper, Mom," she tried. Two of the boys got into a scuffle for no apparent reason._

"_DAD!! Maui hit me!!" One bellowed._

"_Well, you hit him right back," Raphael said._

"_No, don't!" Pele cried, but it was too late. The fight had already escalated to encompass four of the children and showed no signs of stopping._

"_Aw, just let them wear themselves out," Raph said, pulling Pele close. "You know I can't resist you when you're getting ready to give me another baby . . . ."_

Pele whimpered. Maybe she should just join a convent. The sound of a window sliding open in the next room made April leap up from the couch. She peered through the doorway, muscles tense, then visibly relaxed.

"Hi, Leo," she said. Pele jumped, looking around for an escape route. Her eyes lit on the doorway leading to the roof.

"Hi April. Have you seen Pele?" Leo asked.

"She's in here and she's in a right state--," April turned back towards the couch, but Pele was already gone. The door to the roof was slightly ajar. April sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"I'll go after her," Leo said, loping up the steps two at a time.

Pele was standing on the roof, looking out over the city. The wind tugged at her hockey jersey and damp hair.

"Pele?" Leo asked.

"I'm sorry," Pele said abruptly. "I'm sorry you saw Raph kissing me." For a few minutes, there was no sound but the wind.

"Did you . . . . want him to kiss you?" Leo asked eventually.

" . . . . . no . . . . I don't know . . . ." Pele whimpered, the frustration bringing tears to her eyes. "He was nice . . . . you're always nice, but . . . . . you've never tried to kiss me, Leo." This was seriously unfair. Pele had grown up with the knowledge that she would never have to choose between two men. It was unfair that she had to do so now, and especially when she was so close to laying and was emotionally out of whack to begin with. Leonardo came up and leaned against the edge of the roof next to Pele.

"That's true. I never have." He stated simply.

"I thought . . . . I didn't . . . . maybe you were just shy . . . ." The gravid turtle floundered desperately, lost in confusion and a sea of hormones. "I'd rather it had been you." She whispered.

"So you could punch me in the shoulder afterwards?" Leo deadpanned, a smile curving his lips.

"No!" Pele giggled briefly. Sobering up again, she leaned against the wall and looked down at her hands. "I- I just . . . . I don't know what to think. I'm confused." Without a word, Leo reached out and pulled her into a tight hug.

"When you've laid and you're thinking a little more clearly, we'll talk about this," he murmured. Pele didn't answer, merely clutched tightly at him. After a little while, Leo pulled back and simply stared into Pele's eyes. Then he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Are you ready to go back home now?" He asked.

"Not yet. I want to stay here a little bit longer." Pele admitted. She needed to think.

"Okay. Call me when you're ready to go back and I'll come and get you."

"Okay." Leonardo was only halfway across the rooftop when Pele's voice stopped him cold.

"Leo." There was no petulant, confused whine to the Hawaiian turtle's voice. No teasing laughter either. There was a warning. Pele had only said his name, but she might as well have screamed 'Danger!' Leonardo whirled, both katana at the ready. What he saw made him gasp out loud.

There was a female turtle behind Pele, holding a razor-sharp tanto to the gravid female's throat.

"Ah, so you're Leonardo." She purred in a throaty voice. "At last we meet."

"Who the shell are you?!" Leo demanded. Pele had her hands behind her back, no doubt already bound, but she was eyeing the stranger with a calculating gaze. Leo gave the barest shake of his head. He couldn't risk Pele trying to fight in her condition.

"Did you just substitute 'shell' for the word 'hell'?" The dark haired turtle inquired. "How very PG-13 of you."

"What do you want from me?" Leo growled.

"Oh, I already have what I came for," Lilith purred. "And what a lovely bit of serendipity she is, too." The dark turtle paused to pinch Pele's cheek with her free hand. "Who's my fat widdle bargaining chip?" Pele snarled an oath in her native language, but was quickly silenced by the blade pressing sharply against her throat.

"Let her go!" Leo cried. "Take me instead." He quickly put down his katana and stepped away from them.

"Don't be stupid, Leonardo. If I wanted you, I would have taken you. Now pick up your swords and stop being silly. I'm going to tell you how this is going to work." Lilith's manner sobered. "If you want your pregnant tart back in one piece, you're going to come to the docks precisely at midnight."

"I expect you want me to come alone." Leo said.

"On the contrary, I want you to go home and bring back all your little friends and be ready for a fight."

"Pele?" Leo called. "We'll come for you. Don't do anything risky." Pele scowled at him, but remained silent.

"That's right, Pele; Auntie Lilith will take good care of you. Ta ta, Leo! See you at midnight!" Lilith dropped an object almost casually onto the roof between them. Smoke shot from the small canister, enveloping the roof in a thick, choking gas. By the time it had cleared away, both Lilith and Pele were gone.

"W-what are you—who is that?" Karai demanded. Lilith paused in lugging an unconscious Pele into position.

"Why Karai, are you following me? Naughty girl, nobody likes a snoop," Lilith panted. She braced her own shell against Pele's stomach to hold her in place while Lilith wrapped the chains around Pele and padlocked her to a pillar.

"Who is that?!" Karai repeated. Lilith took a step away from her captive and smiled.

"Isn't she a splendid little find? Pretty coloring, too; hard to fade into the shadows with coloring like that, but she's still quite pretty."

"Who is she?"

"You know, Karai, when I realized you were in love with Leonardo, I didn't think it could get much better than that. I mean, imagine, the Shredder's most trusted lieutenant in love with his most hated enemy. But then I happened upon a choice little scene on the roof of an apartment building and I realized I was wrong. You see, Mummy dearest, this girl is Leonardo's mate. I found them cuddling on a rooftop together, discussing plans for what to do after she's laid her egg." Lilith reached forward and jerked up Pele's hockey jersey, revealing her swollen belly. "And she's about to pop any day now." Karai's eyes grew round. This was impossible. This couldn't be! But, when Karai had met Leonardo on the roof he had a package with . . . .Karai's heart sank . . . pickles and ice cream. This brightly colored turtle was Leonardo's mate. Funny, how that realization made her heart go curiously cold and numb. Breathing normally suddenly became a challenge as the urge to suck in great lung-fulls of air overwhelmed her.

"You see, if Leonardo returned your feelings, it would simply be yet another retelling of the archetypical star-crossed lovers. But you have given your heart to him across terrible obstacles and not only does he not return your feelings, he already has a woman and a child on the way." Lilith gave a nasty laugh. "This is so good it has to be fattening."

Karai could say nothing. She felt as if a hot knife were piercing her chest. This was ridiculous. She couldn't be in love with Leonardo. She'd never do anything so stupid in her life. But the very thought of him holding and kissing this small turtle, not to mention begetting a child on her, made Karai's throat close up. He was to have a baby, then? Leonardo would be a father. He would be a wonderful father; Karai knew that instinctively. He would be gentle and caring, yet stern when the situation called for it. He would be the kind of father every woman would desire for her children. With a start, Karai realized she had tears swimming in her eyes.

"Now, now, buck up, Karai. . . . or should I start calling you Eponine? But if you feel the need to sacrifice your life to help him, make sure I'm not around or I may have to vomit. Now," Lilith turned to her flabbergasted mother. "I'm calling in that favor. Go back to the base and tell the Shredder to have the Foot Clan at the docks at midnight."

"But that wasn't the plan," Karai protested weakly.

"Plans change." Lilith announced.

Leonardo melted out of the shadows to glare at the figure standing alone on the roof of a warehouse by the docks. She was wearing a long trench coat, but it was unmistakably Lilith. Without seeming to move, Leo receded back into the shadows. Behind him, Mike, Don, Raph, Casey, Master Splinter, and Makai looked expectantly at their young leader.

"She's there, but I don't see Pele anywhere. We'll go with the plan, but be ready to fight your way out of a trap."

"Do not worry, my son," Splinter said, laying a hand on his son's shoulder. "We will get Pele back."

"We'd better . . . . or I'm taking it out on that green-skinned bitch out there," Makai growled. She wore a black gi to cover her own white markings and had a pahoa gripped in each hand, but also kept a pair of tonfa shoved into her belt, just in case.

"Don't worry, sweetie, if she has to keep Pele much longer, I'm sure this Lilith will be begging us to take her back," Mikey murmured. He managed to coax a rueful smile from the sea turtle.

"We're gone," Leo hissed, leaping across to the warehouse roof.

Lilith watched him approach, her hands shoved in her pockets casually. Her pale eyes raked over the others with him. The rat had to be the turtle's beloved Master Splinter, and the human was the vigilante Casey Jones. As for Leo's three brothers, Michelangelo was the one with the nunchaku, while Raphael carried a pair of sai and Donatello a simple bo. It looked like everyone was present and accounted for.

"Where's Pele?!" Leo demanded, stopping about twenty feet from Lilith.

"She's relatively safe," Lilith assured him.

"Whaddya mean, _relatively_ safe?!" Raph roared.

"She's safer than you," Lilith elaborated, gesturing with one hand. From everywhere, Foot Ninja appeared. The quickly surrounded the four turtles, Splinter and Casey. Karai alighted on the corner of the roof and stood watching the turtles sadly. There was a puff of smoke behind Lilith and the Shredder and his Elite Guard appeared out of the smoke. Almost as an afterthought, Hun came wading through the ranks of the Foot Ninja.

"Lilith!!" The Shredder roared. "This was not what I had planned for you!!" Lilith gave the turtles a little smile, then turned to face the Shredder.

"True; but then, your plan sucked. Mine's much better." The female turtle said flatly. There was a moment of stunned silence as Lilith's small act of rebellion sank in.

"What did you say to me?!" The Shredder roared.

"How much time, manpower and money have you wasted trying to get rid of four humanoid turtles and a giant rat? They may keep foiling your plans, but did it ever occur to you to move to a different city? They live in a sewer, for crying out loud; it's not as if they have the means to follow you. You are a fool, Shredder." Lilith said levelly. Without another word, Shredder drew his katana and brought down in a slash that could have cut the turtle hybrid in two. Or it would have if the Shredder hadn't stopped his swing half and inch from Lilith's head. The dark turtle never even flinched. She treated her master to a nasty grin.

"You're also sloppy. The Utroms usually tightly encrypt the signals they use to control their exosuits to guard against overlapping channels so that one Utrom doesn't accidentally effect another's suit. Being by yourself for seven hundred years, I guess you missed that notion." Lilith reached behind her and lifted up her hair, revealing a small device clinging to the nape of her neck. "I hacked into your suit's security routines and downloaded the control frequency into my mainframe, then whipped up this little beauty to override your control. You should have used better signal encryption, Shredder." Lilith said with a slight smile. Taking a few steps backward, she paused to laugh heartily. "I can't believe you never suspected a thing! None of you! Do you think I really would have allowed myself to be your slave? Do you think I would have whored myself out to my biological father and uncles simply to please you? That I would have been satisfied to live my life as a pet?! And did you honestly think I didn't know you were planning to exterminate me if your idiotic plan failed?!?! DID YOU?!!" Lilith's cool exterior slipped away bit by bit until she was screaming the last few sentences. Then she paused and smoothed her hair away from her face, visibly calming down. In the stunned silence that followed, Mike leaned towards Donnie.

"Um . . . . I think we missed something," he muttered. Donatello's eyes were shining as he looked at Lilith.

"Do you think that signal disruptor plugs directly into her brain?" He whispered back, his voice excited.

"You traitor!!" Karai cried, leaping forward.

"You're one to talk, Karai," Lilith said smoothly, her calm, calculating facade back in place.

"I may have had my doubts, but I will always be a servant of the Shredder! You called him Master as well!"

"Oh yes, I remember; now how did that go?" Lilith suddenly sagged, trembling as if weakened. She took a few tottering steps forward before falling to her knees. "Master . . ." she breathed, gazing up at the immobilized Shredder in adoration. Karai and Hun's mouths hung open. The performance was an exact copy of Lilith's exit from the cloning tank.

"You've been planning this from the start!" Hun roared.

"But how?! Your brain was monitored so that we would know the instant you awoke!" Karai protested.

"So perhaps I was asleep, dreaming that I was awake. No matter. I'm taking my leave of all of you."

"You don't think your hold over us is strong enough to let you just walk away, do you, freak slut?" Hun growled.

"I'd never be so foolish," Lilith said. She turned back towards the turtles, Splinter, and Casey. "If you ever want to see your precious Pele again, I'd suggest you keep me safe."

"Foot Clan, attack!" Karai cried.

"Leo?" Raph said questioningly.

"We have no choice! Protect Lilith!"

The six warriors charged into the fray as the Foot Clan surged forward, trying to overwhelm Lilith. The Elite Guard disappeared in a puff of smoke, only to reappear surrounding Lilith. She smiled at them a moment before the Shredder careened into the group, taking down two of the Elite Guard with a flying kick. Without a pause he attacked the remaining two with the katana he still clutched. He didn't say a word, though anyone standing close might just be able to hear muffled alien swearing coming from his stomach.

Using the Shredder's back as a springboard, Lilith vaulted over a group of Foot Ninja just as Karai swooped in for the kill. Landing in a crouch, the turtle hybrid flexed her arms and blades shot out of the trench coat sleeves, shredding the fabric. Spinning as gracefully as a dancer, Lilith slashed at the Foot Soldiers surrounding her before leaping back as Karai lunged forward once again.

"Traitor! You will die!" Before she could make good on her threat, Karai fell back under Leonardo's flashing blades. "Leonardo! You must let me finish her!"

"I can't, Karai! I have to get Pele back safe and sound!" Leo roared, a strange fog of rage and bloodlust clouding his normally cool head.

"But—." A roundhouse kick to the head cut off Karai's protest, sending her sprawling across the tarpaper. Leo whirled and rushed for the nearest foot soldier. Every punch or slash that hit home was another inch closer to having Pele back safe. His heart was pounding in his throat and all he wanted was to fight. In the back of his mind, he wondered if this was how Raphael felt all the time.

Lilith cleared the space around her with another pirouette, but stopped about ten feet short of the roof's edge.

"Don't think those pigstickers will get you past me, freak slut," Hun growled, placing his considerable bulk between Lilith and freedom. The turtle hybrid gave a nasty grin and sheathed her blades.

"Don't worry, Hunny pot. I've thought up something special for you." With a furious roar, Hun charged at her, only to be knocked off balance by a flying kick from Donatello.

"Hey!" He called to Lilith. "How does that cranial plug work?! Do you have a small computer implanted inside your skull or does it plug directly into your brain?"

"Uh . . . it's a direct interface," Lilith spluttered, thrown off by the random question.

"That's awesome!" He declared, giving her a thumb's up. Before he could say anything else, a freshly recovered Hun punched the brainy turtle half-way across the rooftop. Lilith was already airborne as Hun charged. With a flick of her wrist she drew a bullwhip out of her trenchcoat and sent it curling around Hun's mammoth body.

"Hah! Pathetic!" He sneered, catching the end of the whip. As Lilith touched down on the tarpaper, she yanked on the whip with all her might. The braided leather tightened around Hun's body and then the handle snapped off. A strange beeping came from within the length of the whip, as if something had just armed itself. Before Hun could do more than look alarmed, the whip exploded, spraying Hun with a burning liquid that quickly set fire to his clothing. Hun went tearing around the rooftop, scattering friend and foe alike before learned behavior overcame raw instinct and the Nordic giant remembered to 'stop, drop, and roll.' Unfortunately, whoever had come up with this maneuver and spent so much time and energy ingraining it into the heads of the last three generations of American children hadn't anticipated the burnee 'stop, drop, and rolling' on a highly flammable substance. Hun had just set the roof on fire.

"My sons! We must flee!" Splinter cried, knocking down three Foot ninja with a single sweep of his tail.

"We have to protect Lilith so she can tell us where Pele is!" Leonardo insisted.

"Uh, guys? Where is Lilith?" Casey asked. There was a momentary lull in fighting as both sides did a quick sweep for the chaos inducing chelonian. Lilith was gone.

"This is all your fault!" Karai yelled, pointing her katana at Leonardo. "That traitor is gone and it is all your doing!"

"I have to find Pele!!" Leo roared back.

"I know where your precious woman is!" Karai practically screamed. Leo blinked.

"You do? Where is she?! Is she safe?!"

"Guys?! Roof on fire?!" Mikey yelled, darting in between the two. The Shredder suddenly jerked, staggered, and went to his knees. After a twitch or two, he stood again, obviously back in command of his exosuit.

"Karai!!! Hun!! To me!!" He roared. Karai hesitated.

"Please," Leo whispered. "Tell me where she is."

Lilith leapt and danced through the shadows of the docks, leaping from roof to roof and even from boat to boat before she made her way up to stand on the roof of the bridge of a massive freighter to observe the chaos on top of the warehouse. The fire had spread quicker than she anticipated.

"_It's just the way I am,_

_Have to take it for a fact._

_Life can really burn you up_

_When you're a pyromaniac!_

_If you love somebody_

_Better set them on fi-re!" _Lilith sang merrily, reaching into her trench coat. She pulled out a remote control. Pulling out the antenna, she paused to take in the fighting still going strong on the burning rooftop.

"Oh, all my friends and family, soon to be dead. It's so sad," she announced to no one in particular. "I love to see them all at each other's throats . . . . . but I love messy explosions more." Lilith reached for the button on the remote.

Pele stirred. She remembered that bitch Lilith pressing an ether-soaked rag over her mouth and nose, then nothing. If Leonardo hadn't been so insistent about her waiting to be rescued, she would have taken on the dark turtle. It's not like she actually had a baby to protect or anything. Pele tried to move and found she was chained to something immovable. It felt like a support beam or a pillar or something. Rubbing her temple against her shoulder, she finally managed to shake off the blindfold tied around her eyes. Crap. Looking around, Pele wondered what time it was and how long she had until this place opened. Well, no time to freak out; she just had to work herself free and beat feet back to the Lair; easy as _kulolo_. Before Pele could free so much as her second fingers, a familiar ripple of pain flared through her belly.

"Oh _ho'ino wale_!!" The little sea turtle moaned out loud. "Not now!!"

"_'Ilio wahine!!_" Lilith jumped, turning towards the cry. As quick as she was, she was far too late to avoid the flying kick aimed at her head. Makai sent the dark turtle sprawling across the deck, the detonator falling from her stricken hand. Lilith flung herself to the right to avoid the pair of _pahoa_ that slammed down on the deck where she had been lying.

"Where's my sister, you backstabbing whore?!" Makai demanded. Lilith flipped back to her feet and caught one of Makai's _pahoa_ just as the sea turtle was bringing it down in a strike.

"Not quick enough with those sticks, are we?" Lilith asked, panting only slightly.

"It's a _pahoa_, not a stick!" Makai growled, illustrating the difference. _Pahoa_ are equipped with a ring of shark teeth around the tip. Makai twisted and jerked, slicing open Lilith's hand. "Now where's my sister?!" Lilith fell back before this assault, only just managing not to fall on her shell as Makai hooked one foot out from under her. The dark turtle's control was fully taken away as Makai clubbed her over the head with the opposite _pahoa_, then snapped the strap from the first one deftly around Lilith's neck and pulled it tight.

"My sister. Location. Now."

Shaking her head, Lilith cursed her lack of foresight. No one in the Foot Clan had been aware of Pele's exsistence, and yet she had simply assumed the fair-skinned turtle was the only other female. Stupid, stupid. Lilith reached for a pouch on one of her gloves. The garrote around her neck tightened hard enough to make her see stars and the shark's teeth from the other _pahoa_ dug sharply into her neck.

"She's in the reptile house at the Central Park Zoo!" Lilith gasped. "You only have a few hours before the employees arrive to start caring for the animals. And she's chained with combination locks." Lilith finally succeeded in pulling a piece of paper from the pouch. "Here's the combination," she said, holding it up. Makai reached for it quickly, but not before Lilith flicked it into the wind. "Go fetch."

Lilith may have expected Makai to chase after the paper immediately before it fell into the water, but she forgot that Makai was a sea turtle. The Hawaiian warrior merely whipped her head around for a moment to track the movement of the paper then turned her attention back to Lilith.

"I'd love to give you more, _'ilio_, but **this** will have to suffice!!" With all the strength gained in a lifetime of training, racing, and fighting the ocean currents, Makai kicked the kneeling Lilith right in the head, actually cutting her leg on Lilith's cranial jack. Without even waiting to see the turtle hybrid's reaction, Makai whirled and launched herself over the side of the ship with all the power and grace of an Olympic high-diver.

"Karai, tell me where Pele is!" Leonardo cried. "If you've seen her, you know she's not—she can't--- in her condition—Please! Where is she?!"

"Karai!!" The Shredder warned.

"Big flames!! Probably compromising important structural integrity or something!!" Mikey warned, pulling at Leo's arm.

"I am sorry! I cannot!" Karai sobbed, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Over the roar of the flames, the chirping of Donatello's shell cell seemed almost like a lack of sound.

"Hello? Guys! Makai knows where she is! And . . . . EXPLOSIVES?! We gotta go! The whole building's wired to blow!" For a split second, all parties involved forgot their particular motivations. Within seconds, Foot Ninja and mutants alike had disappeared. Apparently, while they saw no problem in lingering on a burning building, no one wanted to linger on a burning building loaded with enough TNT to blow a four block hole in the city.

Back aboard the ship, Lilith remained kneeling, her blue eyes wide and unfocused. When Baxter had created her, he had looked upon her brain and mind as a super-computer and had programmed them as such. Now the only words Lilith could bring to mind were: Electrical malfunction. Fatal system error. Emergency shut down initiated. The light slowly faded from her eyes. Lilith tumbled off the edge of the bridge. Her limp body plummeted into the open doors of the hold, punching through the top of one of the cargo containers inside.

"Okay! We're at the zoo and we've got, like, twenty whole minutes before somebody gets here to take care of the animals. No problemo!" Mikey babbled as the group dashed through the shadows of central park.

"Hey guys, I'll stay here and try to slow down anybody who comes early!" Casey said, leaning against the zoo entrance, trying to look casual. The mutants continued to the reptile house, stopping before the glass doors.

"Stand back, guys; I'll handle the lock," Raph said, forcing the tumblers into place with the blade of his sai. The turtles burst into the reptile house to find a pile of chains draped loosely around a support pillar in the middle of the entryway. There was no sign of Pele.

"Pele?! Sis, where are you?! Makai called. At the green turtle's cry, a curly shock of blonde and gold hair peered around a corner under a display of a six-foot monitor lizard. Pele had a hairpin jammed in her teeth and was using it to pick the lock on the handcuffs clamped on her wrists.

"It's aoot 'ime oo 'uys 'ot here," she grunted, managing to free one wrist. "Of course, I totally had things under control."

"We are so glad you are unharmed, Pele," Master Splinter said, helping the girl to her feet before giving her a hug. "Now quickly, we must be away from here before any humans come."

"Sounds good. But um . . . could somebody carry me home?" Pele winced, clutching her stomach. "I've been in labor for the past two hours."

"You're in labor?!"

The dawn was breaking over the New York Harbor as the bomb squad detonated the last of the bombs in the dockside warehouse. Two of the dockworkers kept busy unloading the container ship that was moored a short distance away.

"Who would want to blow up an empty warehouse?" One wondered.

"It's the terrorists, I tells ya. It's all the terrorists these days. They just wired up those bombs to a warehouse and then didn't explode them just to screw with our heads," the second groused, securing the last container on a semi-trailer. The first dockworker considered this for a moment.

"So we just had a brush with a cell of highly organized Zen terrorists?" He asked, failing to keep the amusement out of his voice.

"Don't screw with me, boy. Just make sure the cargo gets to the airport."

"Yes, sir," the dockworker sighed, climbing into the cab. As the semi pulled away, the supervisor shook his head. His disgust wasn't at his younger cohort, but at the fact that the top of the container had been damaged; there was a big gaping hole in the top.

"Damn terrorists."


	4. The Egg

Pele peered out of the doorway into the darkened Lair. It was almost three o'clock in the morning; she was the only one still awake. The golden sea turtle pulled the blanket a little tighter around herself and stepped out into the quiet of the Lair. Her knees were shaking with exhaustion, but this had to be done before she could sleep.

Pele had just spent the last thirty hours in labor. She and her sister, Makai, being reptiles, didn't have menstrual cycles like human women. Instead, once a year, they laid an egg. Pele had been the first to lay while they were staying in New York. The boys were all a little weirded out about the whole thing, except for Donatello, who had been begging her to let him dissect the infertile egg once it was laid. No way in hell was she going to let him cut up one of her duds. Pele hugged the egg a little closer to her chest and made her way through the darkened Lair with painful, mincing steps. Normally, she would have gone to sleep right away and disposed of the egg in a day or two. No way was she leaving it sitting around that long; the temptation would be too much for the resident science geek. No, the lifeless little shell needed to be gotten rid of right away; and there was only one person she could trust to do it properly.

Not bothering to knock, Pele pushed open the door to his bedroom.

"Leonardo? Leo, wake up," she murmured, going and sitting on the edge of his bed. Leo twisted under his blankets, stifling a yawn as he reached over and turned on his bedside lamp.

"Pele? It's late; what is . . . ." he trailed off as he saw what she was holding.

"It's early, actually," Pele corrected with a weak smile. "I need you to take this out somewhere it won't be found. I'm not letting Donnie cut it up."

"Oh." Leo blinked at her, his eyes still bleary with sleep. "Okay. Let me get my gear." He started to rise, but Pele reached forward and grabbed his hand.

"Don't just dump it in a sewer somewhere. Put it somewhere . . . . decent. But, it's not fertile; there's no baby in it." She seemed to want to say more, but Pele fell silent, stroking the smooth surface of the shell lightly. "It's not alive; there's no baby in it." She reiterated softly.

"Pele . . . . . when you say 'somewhere decent' . . . . you mean you want me to give it a decent burial?" Leo asked gently.

"It's not dead!" Pele snapped, some of her usual brio coming back. It was quickly squelched by overwhelming exhaustion and a quiet that seemed to be tinged with sadness. "It was never alive to begin with. It's just . . . a dud. There's no baby inside."

"Okay," Leo murmured. "Don't worry; I'll take care of it."

"Make sure you do. Promise you won't come back until you've gotten rid of it." Pele said.

"Okay," Leo said, a little surprised at her fervor.

"Promise!" Pele cried. "Swear to me you'll take care of it!" The sea turtle paused and stared up at him with eyes as deep and dark as the ocean. "It won't be nearly as easy as you think it will." For a long moment they locked eyes. Then Leonardo leaned towards her with resolve shining in his eyes.

"I swear I'll take care of it, Pele," he said. Pele continued to stare into his eyes for a long moment, then relaxed, a small smile curving her lips.

"Thank you so much. I'm sorry to ask this of you, but you're the only one I could trust." Leo reached out and to stroke her tousled curls.

"That means a lot to me," he murmured. After a slight hesitation, he rose and began to put on his gear. Pele looked down at his vacant bed and curled up in it, pulled the covers up over herself. In less than a minute, she was asleep.

Leonardo sheathed his katanas and turned to look at Pele. She was so beautiful. How could he resist her, all curled up in his bed like that? And she had said he was the only one she could trust! Wow; that was a very, very good thing. All he had to do was find a decent place for this egg. Leo leaned over and studied the white globe. It wasn't as big as he would have expected; maybe a few inches larger than one of those mini-basketballs. It had still taken long enough to get born, not to mention exhausting Pele in the process. Oh well; he had sworn to Pele that he would find a decent place for it. It was time to make good on his promise. Leo picked up the egg. And very nearly dropped it.

It was warm! And the shell was soft and leathery, with a little give to it . . . . almost like flesh. Leo stared down at the weird little ellipsoid, unsure of what to do with it. After a moment, he held it to his ear. It sloshed gently. Leo held it away from his face again, staring at it in puzzlement. He held it over the lamp beside his bed and tried to candle it. Besides a small, darker blur in the middle, he saw nothing but reddish light. Leonardo continued to stare at the egg in his hands. No wonder Pele wanted it safely out of the Lair. There was no way Donatello would be able to resist dissecting it. For some reason the thought of his brother cutting into Pele's egg made Leo very angry. Pele snuggled down into his bed, making a small noise in her sleep. Leonardo finally tore his attention away from the egg to look at her. He had sworn he would get rid of the egg for her. He had to keep his word.

At first Leo thought of the storm drains. The egg wouldn't be found and it wasn't exactly like dumping it in a sewer. The heavy rains from the week before would carry it away quickly and cleanly. That sounded like a good idea. As he headed for the nearest conjunction of storm drains, Leonardo turned his attention once again to the egg in his arms. It really wasn't that big; was a baby expected to hatch out of it? Then again, how big were newborn babies? Leo had never held a baby before; newborn or otherwise. Idly, he wondered what one of Pele's babies would look like. Would it be all red-golden like it's mother? Or would it take after him or his brothers? Oh, screw his brothers, Leo wanted it to take after him. 'Daddy Leo' and 'Momma Pele'; he smiled to himself. Maybe it would be green like him with Pele's little white markings all through it. Pele would make a great mother. She seemed hard, but she was quite soft and loving underneath; Leo was just sure of it. She was just hard enough to make sure the children would have discipline and be well behaved. Yes, a whole clutch of respectful hatchlings to teach ninjitsu, and lua, of course, to walk in the way of the warrior; to carry on the family honor. Leonardo had never considered having family honor before; well, not the sort he could pass along.

When the girls had first appeared, his first thought had merely been thoughts of an intimacy of a physical nature. He had never really sat down and considered the fact that Pele and Makai could bear children. Or rather, bear eggs that would hatch children. How long would the eggs have to incubate? Would they be warm enough in a sewer? Didn't turtles usually lay eggs on a beach? Maybe Donnie could build some sort of giant incubator. Without realizing it, Leonardo had settled the egg into the crook of his arm as if he were holding a baby. They would have to have a special room for the eggs. And everyone would have to be very careful when they went into it; if Mikey broke an egg from his fooling around, Leo would literally kill him. Even if it was Mikey and Makai's egg! The fertile eggs would be so precious; worth ten times their weight in gold! And if it was Leo and Pele's egg . . . . . no one would be allowed to pick it up; not even Sensei! Well, maybe Sensei. And Pele, of course. She would want to bond with it. And . . . maybe Donnie . . . he'd probably need to monitor it or something. Maybe April. And Makai . . . . other women were probably okay. They knew about babies. But not Mikey or Raph. Or Casey. Definitely not Casey.

Leo reached the conjunction of storm drains and stared down into the rushing water for a moment. Despite his earlier conviction, Leonardo was seized by doubt. He chewed his lip and looked down at the egg in his arms. The water was awfully rough and there was lots of debris. Still . . . . it wasn't a sewer and no one would find it. Leo wasn't going to just chuck the egg down a hole, though. Somehow it seemed wrong. He waded out into a channel of water a few inches deep and gently set the egg down. It started to roll away almost immediately, the strong current carrying it along. Leonardo gasped as the water snatched the egg away. Despite the fact that this was exactly what he wanted it to do, he was seized by total panic.

"Oh god! The baby!" He cried, rushing after the egg. The strong current clutched at his ankles as he tried to run through it. The egg continued to roll along, heading for a drop-off that dumped water into a churning, boiling mass. Leo dove into the water, sliding along the sluiceway to catch the egg in both hands just as it tipped over the edge. The young turtle wrapped himself around it for protection as they both dropped into the churning water. The force of the water pinned Leo against the bottom of the pipe. With a twist and a powerful kick from both legs, he managed to thrust himself into an upwelling current and shot to the surface of the water like a cork out of a bottle. Coughing and spitting water, Leo fought his way towards an access ladder, the egg clutched protectively to his chest. The water still trying to drag him back down into the current, he slowly climbed out of the pipe and threw himself down on some safely dry brickwork. Wiping the dirty water off of the egg, Leonardo quickly checked it for damage. It was unharmed. Thank god. He hugged it to his chest as he panted.

'_You just damn near killed yourself for a dud,'_ the logical part of his mind pointed out. _'Pele said there's no baby in it. It's a dead thing.' _Taking the egg in both hands, Leo held it up in front of his face. Now he knew why Pele kept repeating 'There's no baby; it's a dud,' like it was a mantra. Maybe it was just a dud, but every instinct screamed at him to protect this precious, precious egg with his very life. 'It won't be nearly as easy as you think it will,' she had said. Leonardo also realized why Pele had made him swear on his honor not to return until the egg was disposed of. If he could, he would have returned to her with tears in his eyes and told her he couldn't complete the task. With his honor at stake, there was nothing he could do but find a place to abandon this egg.

A few hours later, he crouched low in Central Park, gently placing the egg in a shallow grave. Here it could rot away unnoticed and undisturbed. That thought brought a lump to Leo's throat. But – no, this was best. It would be safe here. Eyes burning, Leo brushed the loose dirt over the egg. He covered the loose soil carefully with a layer of dead leaves and melted back into the shadows, wiping at his eyes. A few minutes later, a scrawny dog came nosing around the bushes. It sniffed at the pile of leaves cautiously, then began to dig, its tail waving at the thought of a good meal. A rock flew out of the darkness, nailing the mongrel soundly in the ribs. The beast yelped and ran off into the night. Leonardo came tearing out of the shadows and dropped to his knees over the hole. The dog had managed to uncover a bit of the pearly white shell in only a few seconds. Oh god, he couldn't leave the egg here! It would get eaten! Leo dug up the egg in record time, and then rushed back into the storm drain. He would have to think of something else. This just wouldn't do.

The sun was rising over New York Harbor. One of the fishermen getting an early start paused as he was getting ready to step out onto the pier. He looked around uncertainly, but there was no one else around. That was odd. He could swear he heard a male voice singing. Shrugging, the man headed off to his boat. Under the pier, Leonardo rested in one of the storm drainpipes, the egg cradled in his arms. He couldn't pretend this lifeless shell didn't break his heart. It spoke of lost opportunities and impossible dreams of a normal life. It might as well have been a stillborn child. Leo had wanted to sing it a lullaby before he gave it to the ocean, but he didn't know any lullabies. He had settled for 'Sea of Love' by The Platters.

"Come with me, my love

To the sea, the sea of love.

I want to tell you

How much I love you." Leo gentled rocked the egg in his arms, a few tears slipping down his cheeks.

"Do you remember when we met?

That's the day I knew you were my pet.

I want to tell you

How much I love you."

The newly risen sun shimmered and danced through a veil of tears as Leonardo let the egg slip from his fingers and slide beneath the cold water of the New York Harbor. For a moment, he could see the white egg gently spiraling downwards then it was lost to the depths. Feeling as if his limbs were made of lead, Leonardo pushed himself upright and started back to the Lair.

"I can't believe she did this," Makai snapped, glaring into Leo's bedroom at her sleeping sister. "I can't believe she made Leo do it." Mikey looked over at his sweetheart, puzzled. Makai was really pissed. Nothing ever pissed Makai off; she was always so sweet.

"We don't know that she did anything, sweetie," He began diplomatically. Makai shot him a dark look and pushed away from Leo's door.

"She's laid, the egg's gone, Leo's gone, and Pele's still here. She made him go out and get rid of that egg by himself. And I know why." Makai's angry look shifted from Leo's bedroom to Donatello.

"I can't believe she got rid of it," he lamented. "Just think of what I could have learned from dissecting that egg!" Makai slapped her hands down on Donnie's desk, leaned over and got in his face.

"This is your fault, you know! If you weren't so keen to cut it up like . . .like . . . like a ghoul she wouldn't have made Leo get rid of it right away!" Makai yelled.

"Makai! Calm down!" Mikey cried, pulling her into his arms for a hug. "I don't know why you're so upset over th—oh. Never mind." Leonardo had entered the Lair. His expression was hard and tired. Haggard. That's how he looked. Like he had just been put through a wringer.

"Leo! You're back!" Donnie came out from behind his desk and approached his brother. "Tell me you at least dumped that thing where I can get to it. We really need to st--." Leonardo punched his brother in the face. Don went backwards shell over teakettle. Mikey stared, his eyes wide. Raphael had come into the main room just in time to witness the strike. His brow ridges raised sharply, the temper mental turtle slowly turned and went back the way he had come. Without a word, Leonardo went to his bedroom.

Pele was still sleeping in his bed. Leo stared down at her. How could he tell her he had just dumped the flesh of her flesh in the ocean? _That's what she asked you to do_, he reminded himself. But still, he had just dumped it; abandoned Pele's egg, just tossed it away like it was garbage. The sobs came tearing out of Leo's throat, followed by a rain of tears. He collapsed next to his bed, his face buried in his crossed arms and wept. This was no dignified show of sorrow; Leo sobbed like a child with a broken heart. He barely felt Pele's hands stroking his head soothingly, but he allowed her to pull him upright and pillow his head against her chest.

"Oh Leo, I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I never should have made you do it."

"I got rid of it . . . I'm so sorry!" He choked, clutching her tightly.

"Don't be. It's my fault. I just didn't want Donnie getting a hold of it. Sssshhhh, it's okay." Pele pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Don't cry. It's all right."

"I – I took it down to the pier and I sang it a lullaby an-and then I put it in the water," Leo blurted. "That's probably really stupid, huh?"

"No. It's not at all. I kept my first egg for almost a year because I couldn't bear to get rid of it. Humans don't understand. Eggs are like babies for us. I would have been more upset if it hadn't bothered you, Leo."

"I – I don't want to think about how many more times I'll have to do it," Leo choked. "You haven't even chosen which one of us you want." Pele was silent for a moment, then hugged Leo tightly.

"Oh yes I have." She said firmly.

"Oh." Leo returned Pele's tight embrace, then rested his head on her plastron, his tears starting to slow. "I guess I'll have to keep you pregnant, then." Pele burst out laughing.


	5. Ramblin' Man

Raphael roared up Highway 87, weaving in and out of traffic. Normally, his breakneck careening through traffic at brought enough of an adrenaline rush to cheer him up, but there was no joy today. He felt as if someone had reached into his heart and crushed every hope and dream he ever had.

Pele loved Leonardo.

If Pele loved Leo, then she couldn't love Raph. Raph would never know the joy of being with her, of caring for her as a lover and a husband, and would never be a father. Raph knew, deep down, that he should at least try to be happy for his brother, but he couldn't summon the strength. If he couldn't even be happy for himself, how was he supposed to be happy for Leo? Raphael turned off of the highway towards the lights of the city without paying much attention to what he was doing. Now his only hope lay with the fact that Pele's temper was just as volatile as his and maybe she'd get sick of Leo. But Leo was the patient one. Leo didn't fly off the handle and say things he'd instantly regret. Leo would be the dependable one; the one she could count on. Leo would be there for her. Raphael rarely knew his own limitations, but he knew he wasn't dependable.

Slowing down as he entered the city proper, Raphael sighed out loud. He was a freakish mutant having to hide his very existence from humanity. The only comfort he had come across recently was the possibility of wooing a mate to make his life an iota less solitary and pointless. But now that was gone as well. Fortune pissed in his Wheaties once again. As he drove deeper in the city, Raph got a niggling feeling that something wasn't quite right. The streets were emptier than they should have been, even at the ungodly hour he was. Something was bothering him about the streets themselves, but the thick fog rolling in cloaked anything truly sinister. Raphael had almost forgotten his broken heart when he saw the little girl.

She couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old. She was standing on the street corner peering up at a building across the intersection. Her hair was braided into tight cornrows and a doll dangled from her right hand. She looked completely innocent and helpless. She sure as hell shouldn't have been standing on a street corner at one o'clock in the morning. Raph swung his bike around sharply, lying on the brakes hard enough to make the back tire squeal.

"What the shell are you doing out here by yourself?!" Raph demanded, dismounting and going over to the girl. She showed no signs of realizing he was there and continued to stare up at the building. "Hey, I'm talking to you! Are you okay, honey?!" Raphael grabbed her shoulder and tried to swing her around to face him. He stopped and stared at the child, trying to make out some details through the dark and fog. After a minute or two he raised one hand and flicked the girl in the head as hard as he could. She went 'booo-oo-oong.' Raph gaped. The kid was a damn statue. Who the hell dropped a random statue of a kid on a street corner? A breeze parted some of the fog and Raphael finally got a good look at the city. Now it all made sense. Raphael wasn't in New York City. He was in Albany.

Some explanation may be needed at this point. After the great street art breakthrough of the Chicago cows, every large city in America decided it needed random sculptures of livestock on every sidewalk. Baltimore had fish, Norfolk had mermaids, Saratoga had horses, Cincinnati had pigs and even Toronto had plans for giant decorated statues of moose. Some cities had decided to move away from livestock. Los Angeles, the City of Angels, had plans for statues of angels on every street corner. St. Paul wanted statues of Snoopy. Albany, for whatever reason, had decided on statues of regular people going about their daily lives.

At first they had been a very popular attraction, a cute and kitchy quirk that Albany had been proud to call it's own. Then the novelty wore off and the city fathers began to realize they had sprinkled their metropolis with human decoys that served to scare the drunks and confuse the cops.

Raphael paused with his hand on the girl statue's shoulder to stare out across the cityscape. He had driven all the way to Albany without realizing it? Albany was a three hour drive from New York City. Leaving the statue, Raph got back on his bike. Three hours away from home; yeesh, Sensei was going to kill him when he got back.

Giving the statue of the little girl one last disbelieving look, Raphael pulled out into traffic. From the top of this hill, he could see the beltway highway curving around the city. Albany was so much smaller than NYC! Practically all of the city fit on this one hill, showing a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside. Well, maybe he could pay attention on the way back and actually see something new. Raph eyed the street sign on the corner. It pointed the way back to New York City quite clearly, but it also trumpeted the wonder and beauty of a town ten minutes up the road called Troy, the reported birthplace of Uncle Sam. Well, what was ten more minutes? He could just go up and look around and then head straight home. Yeah, that's what he'd do.

Troy was either a very large town or a very tiny city, but Raph loved it. The streets looked like something straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. He never did find out about the Uncle Sam thing, but he spent another 45 minutes exploring the streets before finally turning back towards home with a heavy heart.

He had felt so much better exploring the world out here. He had forgotten all about Pele and Leo. Now he would have to go home and watch them sneaking kisses when they didn't think anyone was looking. Worse than the kissing was the way they looked at each other. They looked at each other with their eyes sparkling and their expressions warm and sunny, like they had the best secret in the world and it filled their hearts with happiness. They looked at each other like they loved each other. It made Raphael's stomach cramp up when he saw it. Why couldn't Pele have chosen to him? Why couldn't she look at him like that? Raph knew he could be a jerk sometimes, but if she had only picked him, he would have made sure she never wanted for anything. The world shimmered for a moment as Raphael felt his eyes begin to burn. Shit. He needed to stop for a minute. He was low on gas anyway.

Raphael pulled into a gas station and filled up. Then he grabbed a charred hot dog and small soda, not noticing his growling stomach until that moment. He pulled around to the back of the gas station, eating his meager meal next to an older gas station building that had been abandoned when the new one was built. Someone had taken the time to paint a map of the U.S. on the side of the old building. Raph stared at it as he chewed mechanically. He was still hours away from home, but on that map it made it looked like Albany and New York City were right next to each other. Why did he feel so much freer in Albany than he had at home? He could get away from the Lair back in NYC, not have to be around Leo and Pele, not have to see them together at all if he wanted to, but it always felt like they were hanging over his shoulder. Why did a three hour drive make him feel like almost like a different person? Was it because it was almost like he was making his own way in the world?

Raphael looked over his shoulder at the highway. He could read the illuminated sign from this distance. One way pointed to Peekskill and New York City. The other way just said: Pennsylvania and Points South. 'Points South'; like the Highway Commission was leaving it up to the traveler to decide where he wanted to go. Raph looked back at the painted map again. There was a lot of America south of New York.

There was one of those moments where it felt like the whole world was holding its breath in anticipation of a monumental decision being made. A truck pulled around to the side of the gas station, windows down and blaring country music.

'_Baby, what do you say we just get lost?_

_Leave this one horse town like two rebels without a cause_

_I've got people in Boston, ain't your daddy still in Des Moines?_

_We can pack up tomorrow, tonight let's flip a coin._

_Oh heads Carolina, tails California_

_Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer._

_Up in the mountains, down by the ocean_

_Where it don't matter, as long as we're going_

_Somewhere together; I've got a quarter_

_Heads Carolina, Tails California!!'_

Raphael had an epiphany. When people went somewhere to find themselves, they didn't actually think that the secret to their true self was simply in a different location. No, they just needed to get away from the non-stop everyday distractions that kept them from seeing through their own faults to the better person they could truly be. And nothing opened the horizons like a road trip. It wasn't like he was running away from the situation; he was just taking a walk around the country to soothe his troubled mind. He would come back home . . . . . . . . just not for a while.

'_We can load what we own in the back of a U-haul van._

_Couple modern day Moses, searching for the promised land._

_We can go for a hundred miles before we stop for gas._

_We can drive for a day, and then we'll take a look at the map._

_Oh heads Carolina, tails California_

_Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer._

_Up in the mountains, down by the ocean_

_Where it don't matter, as long as we're going_

_Somewhere together; I've got a quarter_

_Heads Carolina, Tails California!!'_

Raph wiped his mouth calmly, then popped open the control panel on his bike and pried out the tracking device that Donnie didn't know he knew about. He placed it in the empty hot dog wrapper then did the same to the tracker in his shell cell. Digging around in his pockets for a moment, he located pen and wrote: 'I'm fine, stop trying to find me.' On the wrapper, then balled the whole thing up and threw it into the weeds near the old gas station building. He considered his choice of actions, then dialed up Michelangelo.

Back in NYC, Mikey and Makai canoodled on the couch. Raph was out somewhere, Leo and Pele were sparring and Donnie was . . . . doing whatever Donnie did. The TV was on, but the Mutant couple wasn't paying any attention to it. The lights were dimmed and then only sounds were the light smacking of lips, the whisper of rough reptilian skin against slightly less rough reptilian skin and the occasional giggle. The shrill beep of Mikey's phone drew a groan from both of them.

"Just let it ring," Makai pleaded.

"It's Raph; he might need me," Mikey said, answering the device. Makai gave an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes. "What's up, dude?" He asked, ignoring the suddenly devious look his girlfriend gave him.

"Mikey. I'm just going out for a while to think about things. I may be some time." Raphael's voice was low and calm. Michelangelo suddenly knew, without a doubt, it was going to be a very long time before he saw his brother again.

"Raphael?" He asked, his own voice concerned. Raph had already hung up. Then Makai slipped her fingers into a very naughty place and Mikey forgot all about the family hothead.

Raph put his phone away. There was just one more thing that needed attending to. And he **didn't** have a quarter. The young turtle considered the painted map on the abandoned gas station wall for a moment, then turned away, drew out one of his sai and chucked the weapon over his shoulder. It stuck in the crumbling brickwork with a solid 'thunk'. Raphael turned around. The middle prong of his sai had pierced the faded peach painted on the state of Georgia. Well, it looked like he was headed to Georgia. He couldn't think of anything he wanted to see in Georgia, but as the Avis commercials said: 'Life was a journey, not a destination.' He mounted his bike and pulled back on the freeway, only instead of Highway 87, he turned off onto Highway 84, towards 'points south'. As he sped away from his home, Raphael felt as if a great weight had been lifted off of his chest. He hummed the last two lines of the song under his breath as he headed out into the great unknown.

'_We're going to get out of here if we gotta ride a Greyhound bus,_

_Boy, we're bound to outrun the bad luck that's tailing us!'_

Suddenly giddy with freedom, Raph popped the clutch, sending the powerful bike into a wheelie.

One thousand miles away, in an ancient house nearly overgrown with kudzu and Spanish moss, a young girl padded out onto the porch, staring through the cypress and oak trees as the sun began to rise. She looked young, either a teenager or just recently so, with pale skin, freckles, and blond, curly hair, but there was a hardness to her eyes that made her seem much older. She was thin; a little too thin for her frame, and the bags under her eyes suggested that sleep was only a happy memory.

"Maggie?" Her head snapped around so fast it looked as though she could get whiplash. An old man had come out onto the porch with an equally old dog. The dog nearly fell down the porch steps and quickly relieved himself. "What are you doing up so early?" the old man drawled. "You should get some sleep while you can."

"I don't sleep much these days, Pa," the girl, presumably Maggie said. "I don't feel safe." Pa fell silent. They watched the arthritic dog hobble around the yard for a moment, the air between them heavy with what hadn't been said.

"I can't stay much longer," Maggie said eventually. "They'll come for me."

"I know," Pa said sadly. "They ain't got no right, but they'll come."

"I guess that's what I get for being a Mutant," Maggie said stiffly.


	6. Georgia On My Mind

**Georgia On My Mind**

Raphael liked Georgia. Everything was so pretty and green and undeveloped. Georgia just had a more 'country' feel to it. Tall pines lined the roads, which dwindled from multilane highways to simple two lane country roads. Further south, grand oaks and cypress trees began to push out the pines and swampland began to replace the sand and red clay that Georgia was inexplicably built on. By the time Raphael got to Savannah he felt like he was in a scene from 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'.

Turning west from Savannah, Raph headed out into the swamplands with a new goal for his trip to Georgia. He wanted to see an alligator. Not some farm raised, chicken fed pet reptile; he wanted to see a wild alligator that braved the odds, fought for dominance and occasionally ate some snowbird's dog. He wanted to see a gator that had lived and loved and lost. He wanted to see a mini Leatherhead.

Raphael estimated that he was about halfway to Alabama, way back along some dirt road when he found what he was looking for. A scaly tail about the right size and shape to belong to Godzilla was sticking out of the bushes. Raphael pulled his bike over and hid it behind some trees out of habit. Then he picked his way through the underbrush and looked on the reptilian leviathan. Holy Crap. He had wanted to see a 'mini Leatherhead', not a 'roughly the same size, might give the real Leatherhead a run for his money Leatherhead'. The huge beast lay perfectly still on the sandy bank, soaking up the sun. Wow, to see something like this . . . . A wild creature so huge and powerful, without the help of any kind of mutagen at all. If only the guys could see this. Raph grinned to himself, then pulled out his shell cell and took a picture of the huge gator. He titled it: 'Tell Leatherhead I found his Daddy', then e-mailed it to Donatello. Raph didn't think they could find him that way, but it would let them know he was all right.

Without warning, the alligator suddenly jerked and sprinted into the water, hitting the waves with a loud splash. Raph jumped back when the animal moved, but it didn't seem particularly concerned with him. The gator surfaced again almost immediately, raised its head and tail out of the water and bellowed. The sound was so deep and guttural it caused the water over the gator's back to dance from the vibration. Raph frowned. What could have upset the beast? The creature bellowed again. This time there was an answering noise. Raph jumped back under the protective limbs of a grand oak just as the 'wump-wump-wump' of a helicopter reached his ears. The chopper passed overhead, just clearing the tops of the trees. Raph's frown deepened as he watched it go by. It wasn't some small news helicopter or even a medivac; it was one of those big military helos with the two huge rotors on top. What was it doing all the way out here? And what as it doing so low? It was almost like . . . . .like it was trying to avoid radar. Why would it need to do that? It was a military aircraft. The gator swam in the direction the chopper had taken, bellowing defensively. At the end of the gator pond it whipped its head back towards the road and bellowed again. Raphael crouched down behind the trunks of the oak as a convoy of trucks roared along the dirt road, slopping clay mud every which way as they tried to maintain highway speed. Raphael's mouth dropped open. He had seen trucks like that before. During the raid on the government lab that had captured them when they met Pele and Makai, Raphael had seen trucks with that exact body, with those logos on the side, parked in the basement garage of the facility. Makai had told them later that she had been taken off of the Navy ship in San Diego and transported across country in one of those trucks. So who were they after now?

Leaving his bike hidden, Raphael pulled out his sai and followed the trucks and helicopter. The gator watched him go impassively. There were always turtles about in the swamp. The giant gator either ate the ones that were small enough for him to catch or ignored the sharp-billed snappers. This new one was no snapper, but he was too big to swallow and didn't make enough noise for the gator to worry about.

The helicopter and trucks converged on an old house. At one time, it was probably a grand mansion, but time and several generations of a very unique style of repairs had left it to be half-reclaimed by Nature. Instead of paying for proper bricks laid out by professional stonemasons, someone had carted in huge erratically shaped stones from someplace where they grew wild and replaced the foundations with them. The grand oaks flanking the building had probably been saplings when the house was originally built. Now they had grown so large that they actually grew into the house. Fresh boards were nailed between the branches to form walls. One limb emerged from the roof.

Raph peered out from the safety of the underbrush as armed soldiers emerged from the trucks, quickly surrounding the house. A well-dressed man stepped out of one of the trucks. He was tall and dark-skinned. He looked Polynesian . . . . Samoan or Hawaiian or something. The tall man took a megaphone from one of the soldiers and held it to his lips.

"Oh, Miss Malone," he called. "You've led us on quite a chase, Miss Malone. It's been what . . . . . . almost a year now, hasn't it?" Silence reigned from inside the small house. "Look, we found the barn in Minnesota. We know about the children." Raph frowned. What was going on? Why were they tracking down some lady with kids? "You must have been frightened," The tall man said softly, almost sympathetically. "Out there all by yourself giving birth in some old barn; and to triplets, no less! Well done!" Still no movement from the house. The tall man gave a quick nod of his head and a few of the soldiers started to move in on the house. "We know the children were . . . . deformed. It was just an experiment; we never meant for it to go so long. The pregnancy would have been terminated long before you even knew about it. You just had to escape when you did. We didn't find any bodies at the scene, so we know you had to take them with you. If you abandoned them somewhere or . . . put them out of their misery, we will understand. No one's angry with you, Miss Malone." The first soldier, gun at the ready, slowly pushed open the door. A second later, the front half of the house exploded.

Raphael picked himself up off of the ground just as and old man with an equally old dog balanced across his shoulders leapt up from a neighboring bush and ran off into the swamp, cackling maniacally. For lack of anything better to do, Raphael followed him.

The old man scampered through the unstable quagmire with the practiced ease of someone who's been doing it his whole life. Raphael did his best to follow silently, even though the old dog was watching him impassively from his owner's shoulder. Raph looked down for a moment to navigate a particularly wide mud hole and looked up into the barrel of a .45 revolver. Behind the smoked glass of his helmet visor, Raph's eyes went wide. He had only looked down for a fraction of a second; this old man had reflexes like a snake on hot tin.

"Whoa! Easy, man; I'm not with them!" Raph cried, throwing up his hands. For a moment it looked like the old man was about to blow his head off anyway, but then something caught his eye. He was looking at Raphael's hands. He was counting Raphael's fingers. None of the four brothers made any effort to disguise their hands when in disguise. People rarely noticed little things like hands unless they absolutely had to. This old man had picked up on it instantly, though.

"I bet you only got two toes on each foot, too," he said levelly. "Not t' mention the green skin." Raph didn't say anything, just pulled his helmet off.

"How'd you know?" He asked.

"I seen your young-uns," the old man said simply. Raph blinked.

"My – my – my what?"

"Young-uns." The man spared a disgusted look back towards the house where the Mutant hunters were now searching the rubble. "Them bastards kidnapped my little granddaughter after she was in a car accident and told us she got killed." The old man snorted. "We knowed that wouldn'ta killed our Maggie. She only got run over by a semi; that wouldn'ta killed a Malone. She showed up here a couple'a weeks ago with three little babies. Said them bastards had kept her in some kinda laboratory and did all kinda experiments on her. She escaped, but she was in a family way from one of those experiments. Had three little babies; cutest things you ever did see, but they's all green, like you, with six fingers and four toes each and a little soft shell on their backs. I sent Maggie to an old house I got in Louisiana last night." Raphael opened his mouth. No sound came out, so he closed it. Then opened it again. This time he managed to force out a few words.

"Th-three babies? They're mine?" Grandpa Malone gave Raphael a hard look.

"That's why you're here, ain't it? To find 'em? Ain't no kinda man don't look after his chil'uns."

"'Chil'uns?'" Raph echoed weakly. The young turtle thought hard. The same government agency that had captured him about a year ago had certainly put him through enough pokes and prods. Well, all of them, really. And somehow the lab goons had figured out that this girl was genetically compatible . . . . and she had given birth? Three babies . . . triplets . . . wow. Wait; Raph had to find her before these goons got a hold of them. This Maggie had obviously managed to escape once, but now she was toting around three infants and would be much more susceptible to recapture. Even if these kids were one of his brothers, he still needed to get them safely back to New York. "Where in Louisiana is this house?" He asked. Grandpa Malone smiled.

"Good boy," he growled. "Now come on; we need t' git further away from that house."

"Oh, yeah, we don't need those bastards catching us," Raph agreed, following the old man as he started back into the swamp. Back at the house, the helicopter started up, lifting off from the driveway.

"Heheh, I'm more concerned about what they're gonna find in th' basement," Grandpa Malone cackled, sprinting through the mire. Before Raphael could ask, a second explosion ripped through the swamps. Barbed wire, ceiling joists and roofing nails ripped through the house, the makeshift shrapnel shredding flesh and tearing vehicle bodies. An ancient potbellied stove flew through the roof like a cannonball, tearing off the back rotor of the helo. The helicopter dropped like a stone, sending up a tidal wave of brackish water as it shot through the sandy soil and cemented itself firmly in the red clay underneath. After a moment of almost painful silence, the great alligator surfaced by the wrecked aircraft, lifted his head and tail out of the water and bellowed triumphantly.

A beat up old truck squealed around a corner, kicking up gravel from the shoulder of the road. The vehicle was technically an SUV, in the same way that timber wolves and toy poodles are technically the same species. The patchwork vehicle looked like a local madman who had made it with his own three hands had built it sometime in the previous century. The body was that of a blue and white '78 International Scout, but the frame was obviously from a larger and more rugged truck. The huge, knobby tires looked like they could scale mountains on their own. After all this patched up bodywork, one might expect the engine to sputter and rattle, but instead the motor roared along, easily keeping ahead of the six police cars that were chasing it.

The young blonde woman at the wheel seemed very unconcerned about this fact, dividing her attention between the road and her pursuers. As she roared along, the bright Southern sky quickly turned to gray as smoke began billowing across the road. A steady stream of traffic heading in the other direction provided plenty of distraction for the police. The young woman looked over sharply as the flicker of flames became visible through the pines.

"Controlled burn my ass," Maggie Malone growled.

In one of the following police cars, Deputy Ray 'Stevens' Clower was having a hard time. He was easily the best shot in the county and normally he could have taken out the tires without a backwards glance, but two things were staying his hand. One was the steady stream of oncoming traffic trying to flee the wildfire. The bullet ricocheting off of the asphalt could injure or kill an innocent bystander. The driver of the Scout wasn't doing anything particularly reckless; she just wasn't stopping. The second thing that stopped him from firing was the small yellow sign hanging in the back window of the fugitive vehicle. It said 'Baby On Board'.

"Damn it, Stevens, take the shot!" The sheriff roared. Before the deputy could comply, a wall of black smoke engulfed the road, completely obscuring the fleeing vehicle. Stevens put the rifle to his shoulder ready to fire as soon as the smoke cleared. A gust of wind blew the smoke out of the way. Deputy Clower lowered his rifle. There was a clear shot now, but nothing to shoot at. The blue and white Scout was gone.

Maggie swore again as the truck crashed through a small stream hard enough to rattle her teeth. She had ditched the highway in favor of one of the dirt access roads that wound through the strands of pines, but the going wasn't easy. After the last bone-jarring lurch, a thin, high-pitched wail filled the cab. Maggie reached over distractedly.

"Oh, Emmy, I know; shhshhhhh. Don't get your sisters started," she pleaded. But to no avail, two more cries joined the first. Maggie slumped over dejectedly. "Emerald, Sapphire, Diamond, it's okay, babies! Ssssshhh, there there," she crooned. In the three car seats lashed to the seat behind her, three very special newborns voiced their displeasure with the world around them. Their skin was all the same vibrant shade of emerald green. They all had three stubby fingers on each hand and two nubbin little toes on each foot. Wisps of dark hair showing a soft curl were scattered over their scalps like the remnants of a defeated army. On the left side of each of their heads, their mother had attached a small bow, one green, one blue, and one white. Before Maggie could consider consoling them further, the sight of flames in her rearview mirror had her stomping down on the accelerator.

The Scout lurched and bounced through the pines, just managing to stay ahead of the leaping flames. The infant triplets continued to cry. Maggie looked back to try and console them, saw the fire coming up way too fast, turned back to the access road and nearly ran over two smokejumpers. She swerved sharply to avoid them. They had dug a trench in the middle of the road and were buckling down to try to ride through the flames. The wind must have shifted the direction of the fire and the imposing wall of flame trapped them. They were going to burn to death. Shit.

Maggie stomped on the brakes and opened the drivers' side door a crack. The two firefighters were running towards the stopped car.

"Get in the back!" She yelled, popping the top hatch on the back door. Without a second's hesitation, the soot stained pair piled into the back of the Scout, axes, shovels, and all. Maggie popped the clutch, throwing the truck into gear as one of the firefighters pulled the back door shut more quickly than had ever been done before. The roar of the fire sounded like a train engine. It drowned out all other noise, even the wailing of the babies. One of the smokejumpers stared at her in the rear view mirror and said something that might have been:

"Jesus, lady, what are you doing out here!"

"Saving your ass!" Maggie retorted, not knowing or caring if he heard her. She floored the Scout, sending it flying just ahead of the flames. Soot and ash rained down across the hood, turning day to night. It was so dark Maggie nearly missed the turn-off onto the main road, but managed to crank the wheel and slalom back onto the pavement. Their speed quickly picked up as they headed towards the crest of a hill. The firefighters let out a desperate cheer. They stopped abruptly.

It was a tiny noise, so small it shouldn't have even been noticed over the roar of the fire, the cries of the triplets and the cheering of the smokejumpers, but it cut through all of that like a hot knife through butter.

The engine sputtered.

Then it coughed.

It sputtered again, obviously in serious distress.

After a second that seemed to last an eternity, a flurry of activity hit the inside of the Scout. Maggie began desperately fiddling with the clutch and choke, trying to find the right combination that would make up for the engine's lack of oxygen. The two smokejumpers began rocking back and forth, chanting 'Come on, baby, come on baby!' with all the faith and desperation of a condemned prisoner chanting the Lord's Prayer. The engine rattled, choked and died. The Scout teetered at the crest of the hill. Behind them the flames leaped forward, as if trying to make up for lost time. Maggie quickly threw it into neutral, trying to restart. The firefighters began their rocking and chanting again. The Scout shuddered, and then, s-l-o-w-l-y began to roll forwards. The heavy steel truck quickly gained momentum, hurtling back down into a valley. Halfway down, they hit clear air and the engine caught again. The road followed the path of a river, keeping low in the clear air between the hills. With plenty of air for the engine and a good road, the patchwork vehicle quickly carried them out of the path of the fire. When sunlight broke through the smoke, the firefighters cheered again.

"You saved our asses, lady!" One cried in delight. "You're either the bravest girl I've ever met, or the craziest!"

"Or both!" The other declared, laughing in relief. Maggie laughed too. This was great; they were all safe and the cops weren't chasing her anymore. Now if the jewels would only stop crying . . . . One of the smokejumpers stopped laughing abruptly. Her instincts for trouble honed to a razor point, the young human girl looked at the stranger in the rear-view mirror. The firefighter was staring down into the backseat. He hadn't even heard the babies crying over the fire and the adrenaline rush. Now he looked down and saw them for what they were.

"Jesus, lady . . ." he whispered. The second firefighter looked down, taking in the obviously non-human triplets. Maggie slammed on the brakes, screeching to a halt only a few hundred yards from where a group of motorists had stopped to stare at the fire. The girl reached under the dashboard and came up with a .357 Magnum handgun.

"Ride's over! Get out!" She snapped. The pair piled out of the back of the truck only a bit slower than they had piled in. With a squeal of burning tires, the Scout accelerated and quickly disappeared.

Raphael slowed his bike down as he tried to navigate around the forest fire that was blocking his path. He stopped by a group of rubberneckers and pulled out a map. Let's see, Mr. Malone had said to take _that_ road, but the fire had blocked it off. But if he took _this_ road to _this_ road, it should meet up just ahead of the turn off. Raphael was so caught up in his map that it took him a minute to hear what was going on around him.

"I'm telling you, it was some psycho blonde girl in a blue and white truck and she had three little alien babies in the backseat! They were all green and they only had three fingers, and-!"

"Alien babies?" Raph looked up. The speaker was a firefighter covered in soot and ash that cascaded off of his gear every time he moved. He moved a lot, as he was gesticulating wildly to try to convince the couple he was talking to that what he had seen was true. The local couple was exchanging a look, while others around them murmured about 'smoke inhalation' and 'traumatic stress disorders'.

"I know it sounds crazy, but Jonesy saw them too, didn't you, Jonesy?" The second firefighter had been gazing out across one of the roads. He turned when he heard his name.

"Huh? What?"

"Tell them that crazy girl that picked us up in the fire had three aliens in the back seat! Tell them I'm not crazy!" Jonesy hesitated. She was a crazy girl to be driving through a forest fire. Only crazy people ran into a fire. Sane people, however, could be chased into a fire. And she had stopped to pick them up. She didn't have to do that. If anyone was chasing her, they were obviously after the three kids. Aliens or not, those babies had been clean and well fed, better fed than the girl caring for them. And they had little bows on their heads and little stuffed toys with them in their car seats. Someone loved those babies. Someone loved them enough to drive through a forest fire to try to keep them safe. And that someone had stopped to pick up two stranded smokejumpers, even though they could put her in danger by blabbing about her children.

"I . . . I don't know what you're talking about, buddy," Jonesy said solemnly. "There weren't any babies . . . just a girl. You must have imagined it." His partner stared at him like he had just been stabbed, but the locals moved forward, instructing the obviously 'disturbed' firefighter to have a seat on someone's tailgate while others brought him a cold drink and suggested therapy.

Raphael jogged towards Jonesy, pushing his bike along.

"Hey, buddy, this girl; how long ago was she here?"

"What girl?"

"The girl that picked you up in the fire. You know, the one who **didn't** have three green babies in the back seat?" Raph said meaningfully.

"Uh . . . . who wants to know?" Jonesy said with distrust.

"Their father." Raphael stated flatly.

"What?" Raph gave a tense sigh, then peeled up the wrist of his jacket, showing off the shade of his skin. "Ah . . . oh. She took this road here; took off like a bat out of hell."

"How long ago?" Raph said, mounting his bike.

"Like . . . . ten, fifteen minutes." Raphael didn't even bother to thank the man, just opened up the throttle and laid down rubber.

Half realized possibilities and what-ifs tormented Raphael as he sped along the country road. What if Maggie turned off on another road and he drove right past her? How was he going to get her to stop? If Grandpa Malone were any indication, she wouldn't hesitate to deal with anyone trying to stop her.

But she had stopped for those two firefighters.

Raph felt a strange warmth at that thought. Sure, she had probably taken out more than her fair share of government goons in her escape, but she had saved two people who didn't mean her any harm. With a start, Raph realized he felt proud. Damn it, he couldn't help it. This girl . . . . woman had fought her way free of the government laboratories, successfully carried and gave birth to turtle triplets on her own, and now still fought and evaded the government goons, but she still stopped to do the right thing. Maggie Malone was definitely the kind of woman you wanted birthing your race.

Maggie gently lowered herself onto a folded sleeping bag under a tree by the side of the road. She really should keep moving; those firefighters were sure to run their mouths about what they'd seen. But her children were crying. Maggie just needed a rest stop to comfort them and see if they needed a diaper change. The young mother turned to the blanket where the triplets lay neatly in a row. Diamond had stopped crying as soon as she had been taken out of her car seat. Sapphire was still fussing a bit, but the change in scenery had her looking around with wide-eyed amazement. Emerald made up for her sisters' sudden calm with a wail that echoed off of the hills. Maggie picked up the green-bowed babe, bouncing her gently.

"Come on now, Emmy. Shhhh, shh, it's all right." Emmy paused for a moment, but unfortunately it was to suck in another deep breath. Maggie cringed back from the angry scream that came out of her child. "Emmy! I know you're pissed! Damn girl, where did you get that temper?"

Raphael almost missed them. The most important people in his life right now and he almost drove straight past them. The blue and white truck was almost black with soot. Maggie had pulled it over behind a clump of trees. Raph would have gone right by it if a high-pitched wail hadn't caught his attention. He whipped the bike around sideways, leaving two trails of rubber as it screeched to a halt. The young turtle barely took the time to put down the kickstand before he started running towards them. Raphael ran towards Maggie, his heart hammering in his chest. He tried to take everything in at once; the slim build, the fair skin, the blonde curls, and above all, the tiny green figure she clutched to her chest.

He was so caught up in the big picture he almost didn't catch her reaching behind her back until he saw the gleam of sunlight on polished metal. She was going for a piece. Instinct took over. One of Raphael's sai flashed. There was a thud and Maggie's gun hung from a tree trunk by the trigger guard, pinned neatly by the middle prong of Raph's sai.

"Damn, sorry! No, wait! You're Maggie Malone, right!" Raph blurted. "I'm Raphael!" Maggie's expression was a curious blend of hostility and confusion.

"And . . . . that means what to me?" She asked. Raph cursed under his breath, tore off his helmet and slung off his biker jacket.

"Those are my kids!"

"These kids," Maggie announced firmly, "Are mine." She looked like she wanted to say more, but looked Raphael up and down curiously.

"Oh, I know! I'm not saying they're not! But those government lab goons that captured you had me for a while, too. They must have used my DNA to get you pregnant. That makes me the father." Raph slowly started to approach Maggie, trying to get a better look at the baby in her arms. "They're mine, too. I gotta take care of my kids . . . . she's so small. Is she supposed to be that small? Why is she crying?"

"Maybe because someone threw a . . a . . whatever the hell that thing is at her mama!" Maggie cried, gesturing at Raph's sai.

"You pulled a gun on me!" Raph protested.

"You scared me!" Maggie retorted. That one stopped Raph cold. While he had always prided himself in his ability to put fear into his enemies, it didn't feel the same when it was a woman with a baby. Especially not a woman with _his _baby. It felt downright rotten. You weren't supposed to scare the mother of your children. Only greasy rednecks that made repeat appearances on COPS did that.

"I'm – I'm sorry," Raph muttered. "I've just been looking for you and-."

"That's another thing; how'd you find me! How did you know about the jewels! Why should I believe anything you say?"

"Your grandfather sent me! I saw the trucks from the labs and thought I'd get in a little payback, but I met your grandfather and he told me about the babies and gave me directions to the house in Louisiana. Here, look." Raph pulled out the scribbled directions and held it out towards Maggie. She took it hesitantly, as if expecting him to make a grab for the baby she held. A gurgle made Raphael look over. Two more babies were lying on a blanket under a tree. They were so _tiny_.

"This is Pa's handwriting," Maggie admitted. She fixed Raphael with a calculating look. "What was he wearing?"

"What?" The question was so out of the blue he didn't know what to make of it.

"What clothes was Pa wearing when you talked to him?"

"Uh . . . . . he had on brown pants, and a brown shirt with white buttons. Oh, and a white undershirt."

"What kind of dog did he have with him?"

"A really, really, really, _really_ old Golden Retriever." Now he knew what she was after; if the agency had caught Pa and forced him to turn over the directions to this house, Raph might not have ever actually seen him. And even if he had, the agency would have taken his dog away. "What's this about jewels? I thought you just had the triplets."

"I do. But I named them after gemstones, so I just call them the jewels sometimes." Maggie relaxed, handing back the directions. Raph threw her a nervous smile, and then leaned in close to get a good look at the baby she was holding. Maggie sighed. Here it came; the wide-eyed shock, the revulsion, and then the look of horror whenever someone saw one of her daughters.

"Oh my God . . . ." Raphael breathed. "She's beautiful." Maggie blinked. Well, it made sense that he'd think his own kids were beautiful. Still, it felt good to hear someone say it. "God, she's so little. What's her name?"

"Emerald. I call her Emmy sometimes." Emmy continued to cry, upset by all the yelling and hostility going on. Raph stroked one of her chubby cheeks with one finger.

"Hey, you, what's with all the noise?" Emerald turned towards his touch in full-on wail, which abruptly died when she saw his face. Emerald's eyes widened, then narrowed, her eyes searching every inch of Raphael's face as if memorizing every feature. Despite herself, Maggie grinned.

"Who is that?" She whispered to Emerald. "You thought the jewels were the only green ones."

"Hey little girl, I'm your Daddy," Raph said, still stroking her cheek with one finger. "I'm gonna take care of you." Emerald looked away for a moment, looked up at her mother, and then turned her attention back to Raphael. "Can I hold her?" He asked Maggie. The young mother tightened her hold on the baby, taking a step backwards.

"I'd rather you didn't . . ."

"Come on, here," Raphael reached past her to pull his sai out of the tree trunk. He offered Maggie her pistol butt first. "You can shoot me if I do anything you don't like." Maggie was quick to reclaim her firearm. Raphael held out his hands for his daughter.

"I just want to hold her. Please?" Maggie eyed him for a few minutes longer, and then placed her pistol back in the holster at the small of her back. Gingerly, she handed over Emerald to Raphael.

"Mind her little soft spot. Be sure to support her head," she said nervously. She needn't have worried. Raph's hands, proportionately much larger than a humans', combined with Emerald's small size meant that he could cradle his daughter in both hands quite easily. One of the other babies began to cry. Maggie backed away from Raphael reluctantly and knelt to gather her other two daughters into her arms.

"Shssshh, it's okay Sapphie, Mommy's got you," she crooned. She started to turn back to Raph, but was surprised to find him sinking down to sit on the other side of the blanket from her, Emerald carefully cradled in his hands.

"What are their names?" Raph asked, nodding to the pair Maggie held.

"This one's Sapphire and this sleepy little girl is Diamond," she said, snuggling first the baby with the blue bow, then the white-bowed one. Diamond gave a toothless, sleepy smile at the cuddle.

"Oh my God! Mikey used to make that face when he was little!" Raph cried in delight. "Why didn't you name them all after green jewels?"

"Because Emerald, Jade, and Tourmaline didn't sound as good. Besides, there are green sapphires and green diamonds. Who's Mikey?" Maggie said, starting to let her guard down.

"My little brother, Michelangelo."

"You have a brother?" Maggie asked, clearly surprised.

"I have three," Raph said. "Oh, look, she's holding my finger!" Emmy had managed to wrap her tiny fingers around the tip of Raphael's finger. "Feel that grip; you're strong! You're gonna be a great ninja, huh?"

"Uh . . . . so how do you know the jewels are yours? Couldn't they be your brothers'?" Maggie asked. Raph didn't look up from Emmy, but his expression darkened.

"They're mine. I'm gonna take care of them. I'm gonna take care of all of you," he said, looking up at Maggie. The young mother was speechless. After moment, Raph dropped his head again and studied the baby in his arms. " 'Sides, the jewels' skin is the same color as mine."

Maggie was silent. This Raphael seemed bound and determined to act as a father to her children. Not that she minded someone wanting to help her raise the triplets, but it was just a bit unexpected. A young girl in this day and age fully expected any man to run screaming at the mention of a possible pregnancy, but Raphael here had sought her out and wanted the girls as his own even though they might not be his. Maggie just wasn't quite sure what to make of him. She had seen some pretty strange shit in her life and to be completely honest, she found Raphael's yearning for paternity to be stranger than the fact that he wasn't human. But he was pretty upset now; if these brothers of his felt the same way he did about babies, it would be a hell of a fight over got to raise them. He _did_ have the same bright, emerald green skin as the jewels, though. Maggie felt bad for bringing it up.

"So, a ninja, huh?" She said.

"Yeah. We all study the ancient art of ninjitsu, the art of invisibility," Raph said. "And so will these three."

"Wow. My family follows the Irish martial arts," Maggie offered. At Raph's blank look, she continued. "It's called Fck Yu. It involves a lot of head butting and kicking people when they're on the ground." Raphael laughed. Maggie smiled; glad she could appease the strange guy. It really was quite nice out here under the trees; sitting with her babies and one odd man promising to take care of them all. It was almost relaxing. Maggie sighed, turning her face towards the sunlight. She closed her eyes. It seemed like forever since she had taken a moment to sit and relax.

Raph looked up when Maggie sighed. She seemed like a cool girl. He really didn't hold it against her that she had pulled a gun on him. She was just trying to protect her babies. You couldn't blame a mother protecting her child. Maggie tossed her hair over her shoulder and tilted her head back, soaking up the sun. The golden rays set her blonde hair aglow, giving her a halo effect. Raph smiled. A Mutant Madonna complete with a science assisted Immaculate Conception. Of course, no Madonna anywhere packed heat and Raph was pretty sure the Virgin Mary never swore like a sailor either. Still, she did look angelic in the sunlight. Raphael's gaze drifted downwards and his smile faded. Where Maggie should have shown the plump curves of a nursing mother, he saw only the light shadows of her ribcage. Her collarbone jutted out sharply and Raph noticed exactly how thin her arms were for the first time. Maggie was a bag of bones.

"You're skinny," Raph said without preamble.

"Not bad for three weeks after birth, huh?" Maggie said ruefully, shrugging.

"No; you're too skinny," he said flatly. Maggie looked down.

"It was easier getting something to eat when I was still pregnant; I could blend in with a crowd and people felt sorry for me because I was a unwed pregnant waif. Now I have to stay out of sight. A good meal's harder to come by."

"Can you still . . . make milk like that?" Raph asked.

"It hasn't run out yet," Maggie said quietly. Raphael was silent for a moment.

"How far are we from the house?" he asked.

"Um, like two hours."

"What's the nearest city?"

"Lake Charles is just south of here," Maggie answered. "It just used to be a big town, but the casinos really stimulated the economy."

"Casinos? Perfect," Raph said. He gently transferred Emmy back into her mother's arms, and then placed a kiss on each of the jewels' heads.

"I'll meet you at the house. And don't worry. I'm gonna take care of you. All of you." With that, Raphael gathered up his jacket and helmet from where he had thrown them down and mounted his bike, starting off towards Lake Charles.

"Man, what a haul! Let me tell you, the casinos sure have improved our lives!"

"There's got to be a hundred thousand here. Not bad for a night's work! Too bad he can't say the same!"

"Please, I need that money. Just fifty thousand; you can keep the rest. Please!" This plea drew a round of laughter. Raphael peered into the warehouse. There were three attackers, gloating over a smaller man who had obviously taken a sound beating. The small man was wearing a plastic lei and a T-shirt that declared him the big winner. Raph left the shadows and walked into the light.

"Don't tell me you three actually **need** a hundred thousand dollars? What, are personality transplants that expensive these days?" The three turned towards him and laughed again.

"You get tired of the house odds, boy? Let me guess; 'Baby needs a new pair of shoes!'" One laughed. He might have been any goon from Brooklyn except for the accent and the fact that he was wearing a John Deere baseball cap. Raph grinned to himself.

"My babies need a new pair of everything." Without any further ado, the young father tossed off his helmet for full visibility and rushed the thugs. John Deere took a roundhouse to the head and went down like a stack of cards. The second Raph hit with the butt of his sai, knocking the human man unconscious and breaking his nose at the same time. The third tried to grab the money and run. Raph hurled his sai, hitting the runner in the back of the head with the butt. The thief went down like a puppet with its strings cut. It was over before it started. The victim threw his hands over his head as Raphael approached him.

"Don't hurt me, just take it!" Raph reached into the bag and drew out one carefully wrapped bundle of cash; probably a couple thousand dollars.

"Can I just have this one?" The terrified man glanced at the money briefly.

"Sure, fine, whatever!" Raph pocketed the bundle, then tossed the rest of the money at the big winner. He gave the turtle a terrified look, then ran for the door. Raph retrieved his helmet and melted back into the shadows.

The next morning, Ulysses 'Pappy' Circe watched his wife wring her hands in distress.

"Lordy, Dad, what's the world coming to when someone would steal from a run-down place like this? It's terrible times we're living in, I'm telling you!" Pappy looked around at the tiny general store that barely turned a profit any more. Someone had gone around the back, broken a lock, and helped themselves to about a third of his merchandise.

"I reckon we'd better call the sheriff," he sighed. The pair headed up to the cash register to use the phone.

"I'll call," Minnie sighed, picking up the phone and dialing. "We're havin' enough trouble with the bank and now this! What next!" Pappy reached over, very gently removed the phone from his wife's hand and put it back down in the cradle.

"Dad! I have to call the sheriff!"

"It's all right, Mother," Pappy said quietly, still staring at the counter. Minnie turned around. Laid out on the old, chipped counter was one thousand dollars and a list. For a few moments, there was just silence. Pappy picked up the list. It was a list of everything that had been taken.

"How much you think all that stuff was worth, Dad?" Minnie asked.

"Maybe three hundred and fifty dollars. Plus ten bucks to fix the lock." Minnie's eyes lit up. "So I reckon we don't need to call the sheriff. I reckon it was just someone who needed some food late at night. That kinda thing could happen to anyone." Pappy put the list down and started gathering up the money. "And whoever it was didn't want to go to the supercenter up the road. I kin understand; I can't stomach the place myself. In fact, maybe we should hold off on fixin' the lock in case they need something else." Minnie picked up the list. "Maybe we should stock up on what they took. Let's see, there was lots of bacon, hamburger, bread, milk, eggs, cheese; all the basics, really, an' none o' that low-fat crap everybody eats. Lots of vegetables, too. The young fella recognized quality when he saw it, I kin tell you. Maybe we'll get some watermelons for him, and the peaches in the back yard are just about ripe-."

"Baby food." Minnie interjected. "We'll need more baby food."

Raphael finished his morning kata. He took a moment to appreciate being able to practice in such unspoiled natural beauty, then picked up his Shell Cell and tried to call home again. No luck; he still wasn't getting a signal all the way out here. He sighed and gathered his things up before heading back to the small house. They could stay here for a couple of weeks while Maggie regained her strength, but then he wanted to get the jewels and their mother back to the Lair for safekeeping. And that was going to another sticking point; he hadn't yet told Maggie he wanted to take her and her infants to a sewer. That was going to be an interesting conversation. Raph wasn't dreading the fight itself, just how mad Maggie was going to be when he had to tie her up and take her to New York whether she wanted to go or not. With a sigh, he headed back to the small house. When he was at the door, the scent of something wonderful sent his salivary glands into over drive.

"What smells so good?" Raph called, stepping into the rickety shack.

"Breakfast!" Maggie called cheerfully. She still wore the same weathered jeans and tank top she had on the night before, but a spare sheet had been sacrificed to make two baby slings. Sapphire and Diamond shared a sling from her left shoulder to the right side of her waist and Emerald got her own sling on the other side. "I didn't know what you'd like, so I made a bit of everything. I was just about to call you." Raph looked at the table. His eyes got wide. There were eggs over easy and scrambled, country-style hashbrowns, bacon, sausage, big fluffy biscuits with butter and jelly and Maggie was just lifting the last silver dollar pancake out of the pan. It was a big, country breakfast, full of protein and carbs and fat and maybe a vitamin in there somewhere, crying because it was all alone.

"Wow," Raph muttered. Maggie wasn't the only one who was going to gain weight here.

"We don't have any syrup, but we've got plenty of butter and I found some molasses in the cabinet." Maggie unwrapped her baby slings, carefully lowering the triplets to a playmat on the floor. Raphael sat down, helping himself to a bit of everything. Maggie sat in the other chair and started loading up her plate.

"Any luck with the phone?" Maggie asked.

"No, I'm still not getting a signal. I'll keep trying, but I don't think I'm going to have any luck." Raph sighed. "I hope they have enough sense to just wait for me to come home, but knowing Leo, I don't think they will."

"When are you going back?" Maggie asked, salting down her eggs.

"We can catch our breath here for a week or two; until we get some weight back on you."

"Oh, can we?" Maggie asked sarcastically.

'Crud,' Raph thought. 'Here it comes.'

"Look, my family's in New York. My brothers and I have our differences, but they're still family and I want to get back to them. I want my – our girls to know their uncles and aunts. Plus I know you all will be safe there. That's my main concern." Maggie looked slightly mollified, but still unconvinced.

"When you say 'New York', you mean the state or the city?" she asked suspiciously.

"The-," Raph saw the flicker in Maggie's eyes and recognized a temper that could match his, given the chance. He really didn't want to start fighting in front of his kids on his second day of being a father. And Maggie could warm up to him a little more before he told her he wanted to dump her in a sewer. "The state. Upstate New York. It's a farm near a town called – uh, do you know New England?"

"Not a bit," Maggie admitted.

"Okay. It's called Northampton. And just wait until you meet the guys! You're gonna love my brothers! Oh, and there's two female turtles, too, a pair of sisters from Hawaii. And of course, there's Master Splinter. He's our father and sensei. You're not afraid of rats, are you?" Maggie paused to rub her forehead in the manner of the heavily put-upon everywhere.

"No," she said eventually. "Why?"

"'Cause Master Splinter is one."

"Of course," Maggie said lightly. "Ninja turtles taught by a giant rat. That makes perfect sense. How about you tell me about this stuff a bit at a time, so I can soak it up?"

"Okay," Raph said, chuckling. "Let me tell you about my brothers . . ."

The next week passed without incident. Raphael spent the time getting to know his daughters.

Emerald was, quite unfortunately, Raphael's daughter through and through. Raph could be out taking her for a walk through the woods with Emerald doing a startlingly good impression of a perfect little angel, then a sudden birdcall would startle her and Emmy would go from angel to screaming little hellion in .05 seconds. Once Emmy started to cry, she didn't let up for a good forty-five minutes, whether the situation had been rectified or not. She could be unbelievably sweet and charming when she put her mind to it, and Raphael loved her without question, but sometimes when he looked into her deep brown eyes, he recognized karmic retribution for his own rocky childhood.

Sapphire's temper was a slightly tamer version of Emerald's. She was quick to cry, but could be easily distracted by something new. Her intense fascination with the world around her reminded Raph of Donatello. Sapphie may have had a temper, but she was smart as hell. Raph got the impression that was more Maggie's contribution than anything that lurked dormant in his genes. What truly fascinated him about Sapphire was that he could see her struggling to master her own body. As anyone familiar with babies could tell you, newborns have absolutely no control over their bodies. Grasping something was pure instinct. To wiggle a toe might as well have been an act of God. Raphael could dangle a toy in front of Sapphie and see her struggling, trying to force her hand to grasp it through sheer force of will. She was also more 'talkative' than her sisters, as if she couldn't wait to jump right into spoken language. Raphael often told her the names of things in both English and Japanese, because he could tell she wanted to know.

That left Diamond. If it wasn't for the fact that she had the same bright, jewel-like skin tone of her father and sisters, Raphael would have suspected there was a little slip-up in the lab and Diamond was actually Mikey's. Di had nothing even resembling a temper. It took her five minutes to work herself into a full-blown cry. First she would make a pouting face and then add a slight whimper. The whimper would slowly, over the course of a minute or so, work itself up to a whine while the pout deepened to a look of intense distress. If no one had picked her up by now, she would start to softly cry, stop, look around to see if anyone was coming to pick her up, start to cry again, stop, look, start crying and finally take a deep breath and start to cry in earnest. The second she was picked up by her mother or father she was completely placated. Not that Raph didn't appreciate his mild-mannered child; he was just a bit puzzled by it.

And then there was Maggie. Raphael couldn't quite figure her out. She was a great mother and a wonderful cook. She was funny and could be sweet and appreciative. She could also be as stubborn as a mule and just as quick to fly off the handle as Raphael or Emerald, but she picked her fights carefully. Once Maggie and Raphael had started to butt heads over how long to stay in Louisiana; Maggie had wanted to stay longer, but Raph wanted to get her home. They had begun to argue, voices were raised, and then Maggie unexpectedly gave in. It was almost as if she could tell Raph wasn't going to budge on the issue and just said: 'All right.' And that was the end of it. She wasn't even interested in pleading her case. It was all a bit confusing; Raphael hadn't had much experience with human girls, but from all accounts, they hated to lose fights. Maggie hadn't been cold or sullen afterwards, in fact, she had made him what he asked for for dinner and even suggested he take a nap while she gave the jewels their nightly bath. Raphael had waited for the other shoe to drop for three days before he realized it wasn't going to happen. When Maggie gave in, she gave in. And when she dug in her heels, nothing was going to move her.

For all of her maternal and domestic skills, Raphael got the feeling there were things she wasn't telling him. He didn't press her; when and if Maggie wanted him to know, she'd tell him. His priorities right now were keeping Maggie and the jewels safe, getting some meat back on Maggie's bones, and getting them all home safe. The first two priorities were working out quite well; no one ever came to the house as it hadn't been occupied in ages, and the general store had not only not replaced the locks or called the cops, the owner had left a note thanking him for his custom and pointing out what vegetables were at the peak of ripeness. They had even bought a bottle of post-natal vitamins and left them on the counter. Maggie was filling out nicely. It had only been a week since she had been thin as a rail, but Raph was already starting to have thoughts that weren't strictly related to family relations, though they could result in more children.

"What are you doing, honey?" Raphael had to stop painting for a minute. What he was doing was repainting Maggie's Scout a different color so that it wouldn't be quite so easy to find. He had also fixed up an old trailer to carry the Shell Cycle so that he could ride with Maggie and the Jewels. But that wasn't what caused him to stop. He slowly turned around.

"Did you just call me 'honey'?" Maggie stepped off of the porch carefully. She had the Jewels in slings across her chest and had found an old lavender dress in a drawer in the cabin. Her feet were bare. She grinned at him.

"Yeah, I did. It's a Southern thing. If you don't like it, I could probably call you 'sugar' instead." Maggie offered, grinning. Raphael just stared at her for a minute. There had to be something about the sun down here. Every time Maggie stepped into the sunlight, she glowed like an angel. With the triplets clutched close to the soft swell of her breasts, she looked like some sort of mother goddess. Raphael turned back to the truck, hoping Maggie didn't notice the blush rushing across his cheeks. Maybe Donnie was right; maybe he did have some sort of motherhood fetish.

"You do know that's house paint, right?" Maggie asked.

"I know. It's all we've got. If you like the blue and white so much, I'll get Donnie to fix it when we get home."

"Naw, it don't matter," Maggie drawled, coming up behind him. "What's Daddy doing? He's changing the color of the Scout, yes he is!" Sapphire cooed in response, trying to be proactive. Raphael chuckled, leaning down to give Sapphire a kiss on the cheek.

"My little Sapphie is the smartest little girl, yes she is," he murmured. Raph looked down on his daughters, smiling affectionately. "Give it a few years and you'll give your uncle Donnie a run for his money."

"Don't wish me bigger, Daddy," Maggie said, grinning. "Ten years down the road, we'll wish they stayed this size forever." Raph and Maggie's eyes met. Maybe this is why he found her so beautiful: this warm, open, honest smile that she was giving him now. There was no hint of the expression people usually wore when they dealt with him. There was no 'I know you can be such a pain in the ass, Raph, but circumstances have forced me to talk to you.', no 'I love you because you're family, but I really don't like you very much.', no 'I know you're here to either complain or rant and rave, Raph, so which is it this time?'. Maggie smiled at him like she'd prefer to be around no other person more. Maybe . . . maybe she wouldn't. Maybe she would prefer him to all others. With the bright Southern sun beating down on this lovely woman holding his beautiful, impossible children, it seemed like miracles could happen. They were standing so close. Raphael had one hand on Sapphire and Diamond's sling. He moved it down to Maggie's waist, reaching around with his other hand until they met. She was in his arms. Maggie's smile toned down momentarily, but then came back with a coy overtone. A slight blush colored her pale cheeks, but she looked pleased. Raphael couldn't help bringing up one hand to stroke her silky cheek. God, it was so soft and smooth. He stroked his thumb across her lower lip, leaning down towards her. Maggie's blue eyes drifted close and she tilted her head back expectantly. For a moment, Raphael thought he caught the bass thumping of a helicopter in flight, but then he realized it was the beating of his heart. Raph stopped. Wait, no, he was right the first time. Raphael's head snapped around. There was a helo in flight and it was coming closer. Maggie gasped in panic.

"Get in the truck," Raph ordered.

Maggie never hesitated, piling into the freshly painted vehicle and strapping the Jewels into their car seats. Raphael ran back inside for his sai and Shell Cell, grabbing Maggie's other clothes off of the porch rail where they were hanging to dry. He came back around the house just as Maggie got the truck turned around. Luckily, Raphael had the foresight to load up the Shell Cycle as soon as he had the trailer ready to go. Raphael piled into the truck, throwing the gear and clothes into the back behind the backseat. Emerald, true to form, was warming up an angry cry.

"Hush up now, Emmy," Raph said, looking out the window for the helicopter. "Maggie? You were going to let me kiss you, right?"

"Uh-huh," Maggie said with a grin.

"Damn chopper," Raph growled.

They headed north, threading their way through the back roads up through Louisiana to Mississippi, entering Tennessee around eleven o'clock at night.

"We need to find somewhere to spend the night," Raphael sighed, yawning. Maggie said nothing, just continued to read the road signs. "I guess we could pull over, hide the truck, and just sleep in the back . . ." Raph let the sentence drift. They had managed to avoid coming into contact with the agency, but it was obvious the government was still searching for them. To be so exposed, especially with the Jewels needing to be fed every two hours, was a risk Raph wasn't willing to take. And neither was Maggie.

"No. I know of a place," she said quietly. "It's not far." She proceeded to drive back up, far into the mountains, before taking a hairpin turn off of the road onto a driveway that looked like nothing more than a deer trail. The Scout shuddered and bumped over the uneven path, its headlights eventually illuminating a rusty iron gate. Despite the obvious age of the gate, a shiny new chain and padlock secured the gate to an enormous boulder, a special slot for the chain carved into the stone. Maggie put the Scout into park.

"Do you have a key?" Raph asked.

"No."

"Then I'll get it," he said, jumping out. The hotheaded turtle whipped out his sai, studied the gate, then turned on sai until the handle was facing forward and struck the old gate, breaking off one of the crossbars. He then slipped the chain off easily and got back in the truck. Maggie was glowering at the broken gate. Her irritation did not go unnoticed.

"Well, how were you going to get through it?" Raph demanded.

"I was just going to take it off of the hinges," Maggie said, looking at the opposite end of the gate. For all of the lock and chain, the gate would have simply lifted off of the hinges in one move. "How am I gonna explain this? We'll be lucky if my mother doesn't shoot you on sight, and here you go breaking her gate!"

"Your mother lives **here**?" Raph asked in disbelief, staring out into the darkness.

"No, she lives a couple miles further up the track. Just don't go breaking the other gates!" Maggie growled, throwing the truck into gear. Raphael thought about snapping back at her, but thought better of it. What kind of woman lived miles and miles back in the hill country with multiple gates to keep people out? What kind of woman got raised in a place like that?

Three more gates and what seemed like five miles of twisting, winding trail finally ended with a small ramshackle house. There was a single light burning in one window. Maggie pulled up next to another old, battered truck and cut the engine. She remained seated for a moment, twisting her hands around the steering wheel. She looked nervous.

"Maggie?" Raph asked. She looked over at him.

"I – I haven't seen my mama since I was sixteen," she admitted.

"How old are you now?" Raph asked.

"I'm nineteen. We didn't exactly part on the best of terms. And now I show up with you – and three babies . . ."

"Maggie, sweetheart, she's your mother. She's gonna be happy to see you no matter what," Raph said gruffly, laying a hand on her shoulder. Maggie gave him an amused look.

"Did you just call me 'sweetheart'?" she asked, pretending to be mad.

"Hey, it's a New York thing. I could call you 'toots' or 'doll' if you wanted," he teased. Maggie grinned, then leaned over and gave him a tight hug.

"Just stay behind me until we get inside, okay?" she murmured. Raph frowned. Did Maggie really think her mother was going to shoot him on sight? But then, given Grandpa Malone's first reaction . . . . not to mention Maggie's, maybe he'd better not take the chance.

"Okay." They got the triplets out of their car seats. Raph held Emerald and Sapphire, while Maggie carried Diamond. The young mother looked back at Raphael nervously, then reached back and moved him behind her. She did this none too soon. A figure appeared in the doorway. It was obviously a woman, with the same curvy figure as Maggie, but a bit plumper. This was overshadowed by the fact that she carried a rifle in one hand.

"Mama!" Maggie cried, holding up her hand. "It's me! Mama, don't shoot!" There was a long, pregnant pause.

"Maggie?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it's me." Mrs. Malone lowered the shotgun and reached over for the porch light. Maggie, Raphael, and the Jewels blinked at the sudden brightness. Maggie's mother looked like a forty year old version of her daughter. Her blond hair had been cropped short and she had more than her fair share of crow's feet and wrinkles, but the resemblance was unmistakable. Mrs. Malone's blue eyes widened at the sight of her daughter's companion. The shotgun came up again sharply, but Maggie quickly threw herself in front of Raphael.

"No, no, no, no! It's okay, Mama! Raphael's he's my – he's." Emerald chose to alleviate her mother's stammering by starting to cry.

"Is that a baby?" Mrs. Malone asked in disbelief.

"It's three babies," Maggie admitted, pulling the blanket away from Diamond's face. The baby turtle blinked up innocently at her grandmother. The shotgun hung limply from Mrs. Malone's hand. "Maybe we'd better go inside and have some sweet tea," Maggie suggested. "I got kind of a long story to tell you."

Later that night, Raphael rocked Sapphire and Emerald gently, murmuring a soft lullaby under his breath. They still sat in the kitchen, awaiting Mrs. Malone's reaction to the whole story. There was something not quite right about the situation. Even if Raphael **had** stayed away long enough to conceive the Jewels the natural way and had then come home, he knew without a doubt that Master Splinter would be overjoyed to see him. Raph might get his shell handed to him at a later date, but the first reunion with his father would be full of tears of joy and tight hugs.

Maggie and her mother sat on opposite sides of the table staring at each other. Maggie looked like she expected her mother to lunge across the table and rip her throat out at any given second. Mrs. Malone looked as though she were giving the idea serious consideration.

"We're just passing through and needed a place to sleep for the night. We'll leave in the morning," Maggie was saying. "We didn't want to park by the side of the road with the babies."

"Right. The babies," Mrs. Malone echoed, her eyes falling on Diamond, who was nestled snugly up against her mother's breast. Despite his best efforts to be civil, Raphael felt a glower start to pass over his face. Mrs. Malone looked at her granddaughters like they were something she scraped off the bottom of her shoe.

"It's real late, Mama and you know how tired you get looking after newborns. Can we just go to bed?" Maggie asked, sensing the tension rising in the room.

"Sure," Mrs. Malone grunted. "I guess I can pull out the sofa for _him_ . . ."

"Raphael and I share a bed." Maggie said quickly. If Raph had been drinking his tea, he would have exhaled it.

"Not in this house!" Mrs. Malone said sharply.

"Sorry, Mama, but you know, my Raph has been such a comfort to me, I can't sleep without him! In fact, we usually all pile into the same bed together; the Jewels, Raph and myself! One big happy! Come on, honey, let's get ready for bed!" Maggie grabbed Raph by the arm and dragged him deeper into the house. She dragged him into a bedroom that obviously hadn't seen much use recently, closed the door behind them, then dragged a chair over from the corner and jammed it under the doorknob.

"Uh, Maggie? What the hell?" Raph asked. "I mean, I can understand you trying to protect me at first, but you're acting like your mother is going to come murder us in our sleep. And when have we **ever** shared a bed? Not that I'm complaining, exactly."

"Getting murdered in our sleep is **exactly** what I'm afraid of," Maggie admitted.

"Don't be ridiculous! I can handle myself; I'm a ninja! But she's not going to try to kill three helpless infants or her own child!"

"She's done it before." Silence reigned for a full minute before Raphael found his voice.

"Say what?" Maggie sighed and started to turn back the covers on the bed.

"I used to have an older brother. When he was ten and I was eight, Justin suddenly started getting sick. Nobody knew what was causing it, and Mama wouldn't take him to the doctor. She said too many trips to the doctor weaken your immune system. Justin was sick for a long time; after eight months he couldn't even get out of bed. Mama finally took him to the hospital up in Cookesville, but they didn't know what was causing it either, because both Justin and I ate the same food, drank the same water and slept in the same room and I was fine." Maggie looked around the small room as if reliving bad memories, then hugged Diamond to her chest. "Three days after his eleventh birthday, my big brother died. I never knew what happened to him until I was in the Agency's lab. The scientists there said I had enough arsenic in my system to kill a family of four. They said it was if I had eaten it every day for the past six years. But I was immune to it. See, in our family, there's a gene that makes you drug resistant, have incredible bone density, have super-strong tendons and just . . just be extra-tough. But only the women have it. That's why," Maggie stopped, her lower lip quivering. "That's why my brother died."

"Maggie . . . . God, why did you bring us here?" Raph demanded.

"I thought she'd be happier to see me . . . to see **my** babies. She's my Mama."

"She tried to kill you! She murdered your brother!" Raph stopped when he saw the tears welling up in Maggie's eyes. "Oh geez, don't cry. Look, we'll get to sleep and leave first thing in the morning, okay?"

"Okay," Maggie whispered. She laid Diamond down on the bed and began to undress for bed. Raph looked away until he heard her climb under the covers. Then Raph laid Sapphire and Emerald down next to their sister and climbed into bed. He didn't remove his gear or weapons. Maybe Mrs. Malone was a poisoning murderer, but he wasn't going to take the chance of her graduating to violent methods tonight.

Maggie was sucking on one of Raphael's fingers. He had brought her back home safe and now she was showing her appreciation for the man in her life. Mischief sparkling in her blue eyes, Maggie licked up and down the length of Raph's thick finger, giving him a taste of things to come. Raph grinned triumphantly. He could feel the warmth of her mouth on him, feel her tongue questing along his skin, feel the saliva dripping down his hand . . . . uh, ewww. Never losing the lusty look in her eyes, Maggie sneezed on his hand, and then bit down surprisingly hard.

Raphael opened his eyes. He was lying on his side in Maggie's mother's house. Maggie was sitting beside him, two pillows in her lap. Propped up on the pillows were Emerald and Diamond, both sucking like bilge pumps. Sapphire was curled up under her father's hand, gumming away at one of his fingers happily. Raph groaned.

"Good morning," Maggie said with a knowing grin. "Nice dream?" Raphael hoped he wasn't blushing.

"I don't think you're going to get much out of that finger, Sapphie," he told his daughter. "You're just going to have to wait until your sisters are done." _Your lucky, lucky sisters_, he added mentally. He was lucky, too, to have a mate who could make sure his babies were so . . . well fed. Raph could have sworn he blushed. Then a thought occurred to him.

"Wait a minute. If you're system's loaded with arsenic doesn't that mean it's in your milk, too!"

"That was three years ago, Raphael. A lot of it has been flushed out by now." Maggie said. "I think the Jewels can handle the little bit that's left."

"And what makes you think that!" Raph demanded.

"Because they're Malone girls," Maggie stated, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Ri-ight, the extra tough thing. How extra tough are Malone girls?"

"Well, when I was captured by that lab, I got run over by a semi. I fractured my arms where they hit the grill and my head hit the pavement hard enough to crack it. I was sore as hell for a week, but there wasn't any permanent damage. And when I was ten, my eight hundred pound pony threw me off and ran over my leg at a full gallop. It hurt like hell, but didn't do no harm."

"Yeowch," Raph commented. "It could be just you."

"No, my Aunt Katy fell off of a waterfall trying to save a friend's daughter and landed forty feet later on solid rock. She walked like an old woman for two weeks, but she was fine. And then my Great Aunt Cissy fell down her concrete steps when she was eighty and snapped her neck in two. A perfect hangman's break, like the one Christopher Reeve had. She got back up and lay in bed for two days because she 'didn't feel good' before her daughter in law finally hauled her to a hospital. The doctors had no idea how she survived. We told her to spray paint her halo gold and maybe they'd let her into heaven."

"Yikes. So you're extra resilient. How are the Malone girls at fighting?"

"Well, back in the Civil War, my eight times great aunt jumped into a squad of four Union soldiers armed only with a hatchet and killed them all. And she was only thirteen at the time."

"Not bad. I guess I'll let you birth my race," Raph said. Maggie giggled, then looked down at the two girls at her breast.

"It looks like Emerald is done; will you trade her for Sapphire for me?" There was no hiding the blush that rushed across Raph's face this time. Maggie wanted him to reach right in there and. . Well, she just needed help with the Jewels, that was all. Raphael looked nervously from Sapphie to Emmy, wondering how he should go about this. Honestly, he usually made himself scarce when Maggie was feeding the girls; she never asked him to leave, but he thought it was the proper thing to do. And now—

"Don't tell me you're still shy about me breastfeeding," Maggie said. "That's so sweet." If anything, Raph turned even redder.

"It's not—I just thought—see—You mean you don't mind me watching?" Raphael reached for Emerald as he spoke, laying her in his lap and putting Sapphire back in her place.

"Of course not." And Maggie gave him another of those open, honest smiles that seemed to light up the room.

"Why not? I mean; you've been thrown together with a giant turtle after being impregnated and chased around the country by the government. I'd think you'd need a little time to adjust."

"That's true," Maggie said, considering. "It sucked being locked up in that lab for two years. And there **had** to be a better way of escaping than going through the windshield of that bus and off that bridge . . . . and then climbing up that cliff."

"Windshield of a bus?" Raph echoed.

"And when I found out I was pregnant, I was so scared. I was even more scared when I went into labor. And when the Jewels were born, I was fcking terrified. But they were my babies . . . and they needed me. I was their mother; who else was going to take care of them? I've never regretted keeping them. And when you showed up . . ." Maggie paused, looking thoughtful as she arranged Sapphire. "I don't think I could have picked out a better man if I tried." For a moment, the only sounds that broke the silence were the small, happy noises of three contented infants.

"You called me a man." Raphael said softly.

"What else would I call you?" Maggie asked. For a second, she thought she saw a hint of moisture in Raphael's dark eyes. Then he leaned towards her. Maggie closed her eyes, lips pursed expectantly. The sounds of dribbling liquid made her open her eyes. Raphael was glaring down Emerald. Emmy, for her part, was looking particularly pleased with herself. Her now-sodden diaper had overflowed onto her father's legs and was dripping down onto the sheets.

"You. Little. Rat." Raph growled. Maggie laughed.

"The diaper bag's in the truck."

Despite being coated in baby pee, Raphael was grinning widely when he left the room. Maggie had called him a man. It was strange; while Mikey and Makai had bonded in captivity, Leo and Pele's relationship progressed in jerky, easily observed steps. There would be a period of obvious tension between them, then there would be a big, climactic occurrence, after which they would be closer. Raph and Maggie weren't like that. Raph couldn't put his finger on any time that they had distinctly become closer; it just seemed to happen so effortlessly. It was like one smooth slide into intimacy. Then Raphael stepped into the kitchen and his smile faded.

Mrs. Malone was sitting at the table, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Sleep well?" She asked casually. Raphael glared at her for a minute. Despite her blatant hostility last night, she appeared calm and collected. In fact, she was giving him a cold smile that was obviously meant to be friendly. Something definitely wasn't right.

"I slept just fine." Raph returned.

"Your . . . **offspring** didn't wake you up?" There was just enough hesitation before 'offspring' to let him know Mrs. Malone didn't count the Jewels as 'children'.

"We all slept in the same bed. Maggie fed them when they were hungry, so they didn't cry."

"Hmm. That's pretty amazing. Maggie's sure to be a terrible mother. She always was lazy; couldn't be bothered to do a decent lick of work. She can't cook; she's a slob, and a terrible whiner. Still, I suppose she's the best you could do." Mrs. Malone declared. Raphael's fists clenched. For a moment, he considered testing the true toughness of the Malone women with a good, old-fashioned beating, but he held himself in check.

"That's not true. None of it." Raphael growled.

"Well, I couldn't expect her to be out here making anything for you to eat, so I made lunch for you to take on your trip. Here." Mrs. Malone picked up a large brown paper bag from the kitchen counter and handed it to Raphael.

"Oh, hey, thanks," Raph said, then turned and dropped the bag into the garbage. Mrs. Malone glared at him.

"You don't know Maggie. You're going to regret taking up with her." The older woman reached past Raphael to rescue her lunch from the garbage can. She gasped when a three-fingered hand clamped down on her wrist.

"Maybe I don't know Maggie. But there's something I do know." Raph jerked Mrs. Malone closer to him, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "There's a special place in hell reserved for mothers who kill their children. And I can't wait to see you there." The young turtle released his adversary, taking a few steps back before turning and heading out the door.

Mrs. Malone staggered backwards a few steps before sitting down hard on a kitchen chair. She had her suspicions before, but now she knew for sure. She knew what those creatures were.

They were demons.

The adult male, the one Maggie called Raphael, practically _radiated_ evil. He had just admitted to personally knowing his way around Hell . . . not to mention gleefully awaiting her arrival. He had also known about Justin and no one knew about that. Maggie certainly didn't, so she couldn't have told her incubus about it. Raphael – obviously not his true name – had looked straight into Mrs. Malone's heart and seen the truth. And those babies . . . little hell spawn that were slowing sucking out her daughter's soul. How had Maggie taken up with Raphael? Had he offered to save her life after that car accident in exchange for bearing his evil seed? Maggie had obviously been weak enough to take him up on the offer. Mrs. Malone started as Raphael came back in the kitchen, diaper bag in hand. He gave her a dark glare as he walked through, then made his way back to Maggie's room. Mrs. Malone swallowed. She was going to have to take matters into her own hands. She was going to have to kill them all.

Raphael changed all of the Jewels, packed up the diaper bag and took it back out to the Scout. Maggie was going through her old dresser drawers, picking out some clothing to take with her. By the time Raphael returned, she had a small pile stacked neatly by the bed. Raph bent over to pick it up. Maggie, seeing that he was back in the room, took the opportunity to head to the bathroom, thinking the Jewels' father would be there to watch them. Raphael had his back turned when Maggie left the room. Without looking around to see if she was still there, he took the clothes out to the Scout, leaving the Jewels alone on the bed.

Seconds later, Maggie's mother poked her head in the room, glaring at the three babies on the bed.

"All right; no sense in doing the hardest one first." She murmured to herself, leaning over her granddaughters. Diamond smiled, thinking she was about to be picked up and cuddled.

"Let's see how you little demons like **this**," Mrs. Malone growled, shaking a small vial over the triplets. The three jumped and jerked in alarm as cold-water droplets hit their cheeks and plastrons. Emerald got that 'I'm about to scream' look on her face. Mrs. Malone watched them expectantly, then frowned.

"Looks like holy water doesn't do the trick. How about this?" The woman pulled a necklace with a crucifix charm from her pocket and laid it against Sapphire's cheek. Sapphie grunted with effort and latched onto the necklace chain. A look of triumph spread across her face. Mrs. Malone made a disgusted noise.

"I'm going about this all wrong, aren't I?" She murmured to herself. Without so much as a second's hesitation, the heartless woman took the pillow from the head of the bed and placed it over her granddaughters' faces. The Jewels' legs began to jerk spasmodically as their air was cut off. The only one saved from this slow torture was Diamond, who had turned her head sideways just before the pillow had come down. For a moment, all the baby girl could do was stare as Emerald's arms started to flail in desperation. Then Diamond, quiet little Diamond who hated to cry and only wanted to be cuddled, opened her mouth and _screamed_.

On the other side of the house, Maggie's head jerked up sharply.

"That sounds like Diamond," she muttered to herself. Scarcely were the words out of her mouth before the young mother was out of the bathroom and half way across the house. Maggie saw the door to her old room closed and dropped her shoulder, ramming into the old wood and forcing the lock open. It seemed like time stood still as she took in her mother, the pillow, and her daughters' tiny legs frantically kicking as they fought to breathe. Maggie's face contorted into a look of pure rage.

"Get Away from MY BABIES!" she screamed. Later, Maggie wouldn't even remember making a fist or drawing back for a punch; only of her fist smashing into her mothers' face as the older woman turned towards her. Mrs. Malone fell back from the blow. Maggie didn't even bother to look where she had fallen, only reached the bed, tore the pillow from the Jewels' faces and flung it away. Diamond was still screaming in distress. Sapphire coughed and choked raggedly before starting up with her own cry. Emerald, who had been lying in the middle and had taken most of the weight of the pillow, was lying limp.

"Oh no . . . . Emmy, breathe baby!" Maggie pleaded. Then a particular sound reached her ears. It was the sound of a very large hunting knife being drawn from its sheath.

At first, Raphael thought nothing of hearing one of the Jewels start to cry. They were babies; they cried all the time. Then his father ears kicked in and he realized it was Diamond crying; no, it was Diamond screaming bloody murder. Then he heard a crash and Maggie screaming at her mother. Raphael charged back into the house, intent on saving his daughters. Maggie and her mother were in Maggie's old room. The younger woman was slamming her mother's hand against the wall, trying to get her to drop a hunting knife with a blade nearly ten inches long.

"Maggie, I'm coming!" Raphael called.

"Forget me! Get the Jewels out of here!" Maggie yelled, kneeing her mother in the stomach. Raph hesitated for a second, but she seemed to have the situation under control, so he ran to the bed, scooped up the triplets and ran back out to the Scout. He strapped Diamond and Sapphire into their car seats and was about to do the same with Emerald when he realized his most outspoken daughter was as limp as a gutted fish.

"Oh God . . . . Emmy! Emerald!" Raphael shook the baby lightly. Was she moving, or was that just her limbs flailing around? "Oh God, Emmy, please breathe!" Raph tried blowing a puff of air into her mouth, then tried rubbing her stomach and patting her back. Tears sprang from the young turtle's eyes.

"Oh God, Emmy, don't go! Come back! Come back to Daddy! I'm sorry I called you a little rat! I wasn't really mad! Emerald . . . . please breathe, baby . . . please." Raphael pleaded, cradling Emerald to his chest. An errant tear slipped down his cheek, dripped from his chin and splashed onto Emerald's nose.

Emmy sneezed.

Raphael jumped. Emerald sucked in a deep breath, coughed, then sucked in another breath. Then she opened her mouth and proceeded to wail like a fire alarm. Raphael laughed out loud, bouncing her up and down playfully.

"That's it, Emmy! Scream; be pissed!"

Maggie staggered backwards from a resounding punch. She shook her head to clear it, only to be borne to the ground by a flying tackle from her mother.

"You bitch! You tried to kill my babies, you bitter old goat!" Maggie growled.

"Is that any way to talk to your mother!" Mrs. Malone demanded. Maggie grabbed hold of a nearby footstool and smashed it over her mother's head. The impact may have laid an ordinary human low, but Mrs. Malone was only stunned for a moment.

"You tried to kill me! Even worse, you tried to kill my babies! You're nobody's mother, you disgusting old woman!" Maggie growled. Mrs. Malone staggered upright, then stopped. Maggie had the hunting knife and looked ready to plunge it into her mother's heart.

"I suppose you're going to kill me now, Marjorie?" The older woman asked coldly. Maggie hesitated. "I suppose you've got the right to kill me; nobody would blame you if you did. But I think you should at least thank me before I die," Mrs. Malone said, backing away. Maggie followed her, anger still burning in her blue eyes.

"Thank you! For what! For a childhood full of neglect and abuse! For slowly killing my brother right before my eyes! For trying to kill me and my daughters!"

"You should thank me for the gravel in your guts and the spit in your eye. It's the way I raised you that made you strong."

"You aren't getting shit from me," Maggie growled, pacing closer.

"If you kill me, you'll be no better than me!" Mrs. Malone cried.

"I can live with that." Maggie announced. Without warning, Mrs. Malone dived towards a nearby closet. Maggie jumped after her. The young woman's eyes went wide as her mother pulled a rifle from the closet, pointed it right at her stomach and pulled the trigger.

Raphael jumped as a gunshot rang through the small valley. Depositing the still-crying Emerald in her car seat, he ran into the small house.

"Maggie! Maggie!" In the hallway between bedrooms, Raph stopped. The two Malone women were intertwined on the floor, Maggie lying on top of her mother. A smoking rifle was still clutched in Mrs. Malone's hands. Maggie had apparently grabbed the barrel and forced it to one side before it discharged. Her hand was red and swollen where she had been burned from the controlled explosion. But it was Maggie's other hand that held Raph's attention, for it clutched the lethal hunting knife. And Maggie had plunged it into her mother's throat. Malone women may have been extra-tough and hard to kill, but Raphael doubted anyone short of a superhuman could withstand the loss of that much blood. It seemed his doubts were well founded.

After a few minutes, Maggie stood up gingerly. The bloodlust had slowly faded from her eyes, to be replaced by a look of numb horror. The young woman stared down at the blood coating the front of her shirt and jeans with wide, frightened eyes. Raphael gingerly picked his way around Mrs. Malone's body and gently pulled Maggie into the next room.

"Maggie! Sweetheart? Are you okay?" It took a minute or two for Maggie' blue eyes to focus on Raph's face.

"Emerald!" She whispered.

"Emmy's fine; she's screaming up a storm," Raph told her.

"Oh thank god . . ." Maggie murmured. Then her face started to twist with grief. "I – I just killed my Mama."

"Maggie, Maggie, don't cry," Raph whispered gruffly. "You were just protecting our children; no one would blame you." Despite his attempts at comfort, Maggie buried her face in her hands and started to sob uncontrollably. Raphael threw his arms around her and squeezed her tightly.

"If you hadn't killed her, I would have," he growled. "She had to die." Maggie's sobbing increased, but she clung to Raphael tightly.

"I know," she whispered.

"Come on. We need to get out of here, Raph said.

Epilogue 

They made New York City by midnight. Instead of the furious fight Raphael expected when he admitted he lived in the city, Maggie just leaned against the passengers' side window dejectedly. She had already been put through too much of an emotional wringer to care.

The great revelation of his paternity to his brothers and Master Splinter was also a let down. They weren't there. Instead, Raphael found a note from Leo calling him ten different kinds of an idiot and telling him to stay home if he came home before they did. They were all out looking for him. Instead, he called Casey, who wasn't answering and left a message to come down to the Lair whenever he remembered to, then called April, who was probably asleep and left a message asking for any baby clothes she could spare from the shop. While Raphael did this, Maggie gave the Jewels their bath then took a shower herself. Raphael made up a cot for the triplets from a spare futon, then wrapped them up to keep warm and sat watching over them as they drifted off to sleep.

Maggie came in a few minutes later in a set of purple pajamas.

"How'ya doing, Maggie?" Raphael asked.

"Better. How're the Jewels?"

"They don't seem any the worse for wear," Raph said with a smile. "Emmy's a little clingy, though." Emerald had one hand out of her blanket cocoon and was clutching Sapphire tightly. Sapphie looked thoroughly confused by it all. Raphael carefully arranged the blankets over Emerald's bare arm so it wouldn't get cold, pausing to tenderly stroke his daughters' hands and faces. The Jewels cooed and moved gently in their sleep, used to their father's affectionate touch.

When Raphael sat back, Maggie was giving him that open smile again.

"You're such a good father," she said. Raph snorted softly, looking back to the Jewels.

"I try my damnest. We'll see how long I can keep it up." He sighed, looking down at the tiny, perfect creatures Maggie had given him. "I just wish I had been there when they were born." Maggie was silent for a moment, no doubt remembering the terror of giving birth to inhuman triplets in an abandoned barn. Then, to Raphael's surprise, she seated herself in his lap and laid her head against his.

"Don't worry. You'll be there for the next one."

"How do you **do** that!" Raphael demanded.

"Do what?" Maggie asked, looking confused.

"You just throw out one little sentence and make me happier than I've ever been in my life! How do you know exactly what to say!" Raphael spluttered. Maggie grinned.

"Aw, just shut up, Raphael," she said, leaning in to kiss him.

The End.


End file.
